Gilmore Girls continued
by Anne04
Summary: Rory and Finn. The rest you'll just have to find out when you read it!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just so we're clear, I own nothing Not the characters, titles or anything else for that matter!

**Quotes of the week:**

- That's like saying "Ooh good I've got syphilis, the BEST of the sexually transmitted diseases." **– Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear (because I love him)**

**  
**

- **Cordelia**: I came by to tell Buffy to stop all of this craziness and found you all unconscious... again. How many times have you been knocked out, anyway? I swear, one of these times, you're gonna wake up in a coma.

**Giles**: Wake up in a c... ? Oh, never mind. We need to save Buffy from Hansel and Gretel.

**Cordelia**: Now, let's be clear. The brain damage happened before I hit you.

From 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' in case you were wondering

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**Chapter 1: Thanks for the memories**

This was not happening – it couldn't be happening. Not now, not to her, not ever. She sighed and looked at the test again. When did her whole life go so wrong? It had started out pretty good, but now…

She felt like crying, but for some reason the tears wouldn't come. It didn't help that her mom wasn't answering her phone at the moment. She really needed to talk to her. She found her cell and tried again. It rang a few times and then finally someone picked up.

"Yeah?"

"Mom?" Tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Rory?"

Rory had told her mom the basics on the phone: how she had attended some stupid party and had had way too much to drink. And how she had meet some guy she sort of knew and they had had a one-night stand. And that she was sitting on her bathroom floor holding a positive pregnancy test. It sounded so stupid to her and she felt ridiculous.

It felt good to be home. Lorelai had tucked her in and now Rory was sound asleep in her own bed. Lorelai sighed. It wasn't like Rory to just get drunk and have some sleazy one-night stand with a guy she hardly knew, but she had changed a lot during her time at Yale, especially after she had met Logan and the Limo Boys. Lorelai decided to just let Rory sleep and then try to bring up the subject again tomorrow. She had a feeling Rory was not telling her everything.

Rory woke up felling somewhat better. She looked around at the familiar room and couldn't help a smile. It felt good to be home, safe. But she also knew that her mother would press the subject of the pregnancy thing and what would happen next. She groaned and got up, realizing she just as well get it over with.

"Good morning sunshine" Lorelai said and motioned for Rory to sit down at the table.

"Coffee" Rory groaned.

"Well, story time first, then coffee. Well, actually, story time, doctors appointment and then _perhaps_ coffee" Lorelai answered, trying to sound chipper, but not quite getting there.

"What, why?"

"Because I really don't trust some cheap pregnancy test, so we are taking you to the doctor's to get a real test."

"Yeah. Great" Rory said, sinking down on a chair.

"SO" Lorelai began. ,Tell your proud mother how you get yourself into this fine predicament."

_It was the last month before she graduated. Logan was still in London and to be honest she didn't miss him all that much anymore. She still hung out with the Limo Boys and partied with them in the weekends. Colin and Stephanie were taking baby steps towards a real relationship and Finn… Well, he was Finn: Fun, charming, Australian and drunk. She liked him a lot, even though his heavy drinking concerned her somewhat. She had asked Stephanie about it, but she had just shrugged and said he came from Australia some years ago, like that._

_Rory was also concerned with herself. She had noticed him a lot more these last couple of weeks, hating it when some girl came on to him or he went home with a redhead. It bothered her that she thought he was hot and blushed when he made some sexual remark to her._

_Rory and Logan's relationship had hit a standstill. He called sometimes and they talked but the real relationship was gone. And the further and further they got from each other, the closer she grew to Finn. They would meet for coffee sometimes or go for a walk in the park. She had offered to help him with some of his homework only to find out he was very much on top of it and it had turned into him helping her with some of her homework and Yale Daily News stuff._

_Rory felt like they could talk about anything, except Logan. He was the one subject they never touched. It was like he didn't exist in their little world. Rory didn't know how she felt about that. She had tried to talk to Paris about it, but she had recently been very tied up in her on again/off again relationship with Doyle. She had however offered her opinion about what she liked to call "the situation from down under" which basically was a rip off from Nike: "Just do it!"_

_They had kissed not so long after the talk with Paris. At a party at the local pub, things had gotten out of hand when some guy became to obtrusive at Rory, Finn had stepped in and made the guy back off. Rory had been relieved and they had shared a kiss. The same thing had happened a couple of nights later, when Finn had walked her home from his dorm. In the beginning it had seemed innocent enough, just a quick peck on the lips, but soon it evolved into a kiss and then into a full-fledged make out scene on her couch one night. They had stopped before things got out of control, well; more out of control, but it had left Rory with a weird feeling. And then they graduated and there had been all those parties and she had been upset about Logan not even calling her to say congratulation and she had been drinking heavily. And then there was Finn, looking sexy and talking to some girl. Rory instantly felt jealous and had rudely interrupted their conversation. Finn had allowed it and they went outside to talk. Rory had yelled a little and he had defended himself, saying that if she didn't have feelings for him she shouldn't come between him and a decent shag, as he called it._

_Feeling completely confused she had kissed him and the rest was sort of a blur to her. She had woken up in a bed she didn't really recall knowing next to a guy who claimed to be her boyfriend's best friend. Everything about it felt wrong and she had tried to leave without him noticing, but of course that was impossible. He had woken up and they had argued about what had happened. He thought she had feelings for him and they had something, she just thought about how wrong the whole damn thing was. In the end they had ended up yelling at each other and Finn had slammed the door to his room, leaving her alone and half naked in the dorm's common room. She picked up her discarded clothes from the floor and left._

_Three weeks later she found herself sitting at her bathroom floor with a positive pregnancy test in front of her and desperately hoping her mother would pick up her phone._

"So do you have feelings for this guy" Lorelai asked.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, he's Finn. He's not really boyfriend materiel and certainly not parent materiel."

"What about Logan?"

"Oh yeah" Rory said and sounded less than happy. "I called him when I got home and told him about it. Well, more like crying my heart out. And he just said 'Oh' like it was no big deal."

"What?" Lorelai almost yelled.

"I know, right? So I say, what do you mean 'oh' and he actually admit that he has been sleeping with this girl in London since he got there!"

"NO!"

"YES! And the worst part is that I feel so guilty and he just dismisses me like that! I was so angry and started yelling at him and then we ended it. I moved all of my stuff out of the apartment the next day and moved back in with Paris."

"So you are officially over with Logan Huntzberger" Lorelai asked.

"I am most definitely officially over with Logan Huntzberger" Rory replied. ,Shira most be throwing a party as we speak."

"One thing honey."

Rory looked at her mother. "What?"

"Can I be there when you tell my mother?"

Lorelai had taken Rory to the doctor who had confirmed what they already knew: Rory was indeed pregnant.

"So, what happens now" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know mom" Rory had replied honestly. "I guess I should tell Finn, try to work something out. I have some job interviews next week, but I guess I'll stay here until then. And I should probably also call Paris and let her know I'm okay."

Lorelai nodded. It sounded like the right thing to do.

Rory walked into her old room and took out her cell and called Stephanie. She didn't want to talk to Finn over the phone; this was definitely something she needed to do in person.

"Talk fast" Stephanie said into the phone.

Rory smiled. "Hey Steph, it's me Rory."

"Oh, well in that case, take your time. I thought you were like my mother or something."

"I was just wondering what you guys were up to" Rory said, trying to sound too desperate.

"Oh my god, you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Well" Stephanie said, taking her time. "Finn left!"

"What" Rory almost shouted into the phone.

"Yeah, he went back home a week ago" Stephanie answered.

"Like back home to his apartment, or like back home to Australia?" Rory asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Like back home to Australia. His dad had a stroke and his mother called and asked him to come home. So he went. Colin talked to him a couple of nights ago, apparently it's really bad with his dad."

"Wow, poor Finn" Rory said. She felt really bad for him.

"Yeah it sucks. So, what's up with you, Reporter Girl?"

"Oh well not much" Rory lied. "I got a couple of job interviews next week, so I'm just trying to prepare for that."

"Oh that sounds really cool. Me and Colin are doing the whole society scene this week. It's totally boring without all of you guys." Rory could almost hear the pout over the phone. ,By the way, have you heard from Logan?"

"Oh, yeah, actually I have. We, um…" Rory pondered how to break the news to Stephanie. "We broke up a month ago."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, I got really drunk at a party and slept with a guy (Rory decided not to tell Stephanie that it was Finn. She hadn't told Logan either, it was up to Finn if he wanted to be honest)."

"You did WHAT?"

"There's more" Rory said, trying not to lose her courage. "I called him and confessed and he just said oh. And then he told me that he had been sleeping with this girl in London, so… We broke up."

"Wauw" Stephanie said. And then there was silence.

"It's okay" Rory said. She had a feeling this would happen. "You were Logan's friends first, I'm not gonna ask you to pick sides or anything like that. I totally understand that we can't see each other anymore."

"Have you been smoking something funny" Stephanie suddenly said. "'Cause the way I see it, Logan's the real jerk here. Sure, sleeping with some guy when you have a boyfriend is a bad idea, but him admitting he's been screwing some British Tart (she said it with an accent) is just tacky and downright mean! So in my book that makes you the good guy. Or girl. Whatever. What I'm trying to say is, that I still want to be friends with you Gilmore. So stop talking nonsense!"

"Yes Ma'am" Rory laughed.

"So beside one-night stands and break-ups, what's new?"

Rory thought about telling Stephanie about her pregnancy, but decided against it. This was not the right time or way to tell something like that.

"Oh you know, not much. Just staying with my mom until the first job interview."

"Sounds cool. So, I have to go now, I have to go torture Colin by dragging him around Rodeo Drive. We'll talk later?"

"Sure" Rory replied. "Have fun."

"So, you talked to him" Lorelai asked when Rory re-entered the living room.

"No I called Stephanie to see if she knew where he was so I could talk to him in person. Looks like I'm gonna need some plane tickets."

"Elaborate for mommy" Lorelai said.

"Finn's dad had a heart attack last week so he went home. Stephanie said that it's really serious."

"Oh. So how far do you have to go to see him?"

"Pretty much around the world" Rory muttered.

"Didn't quite catch that."

"Finn's from Australia, so of course he went back home to Australia."

"Oh you bagged yourself an Aussie. Nice" Lorelai snickered.

"Mom, please take this serious. I can't go half way around the world to tell some guy that I'm pregnant. I won't. Besides he's probably really busy dealing with his father's heart attack."

Lorelai returned to serious in an instant. "So you are just going to keep the baby and not let him know about it?"

Rory looked a little anxious. She knew it was wrong, but it really felt like the only choice.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Rory that's wrong" Lorelai said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know mom, I know, but what do you want me to do?"

"Tell him!"

"I can't. He's one of Logan's friends, he's a Limo Boy and he's half way around the world. I can deal with this on my own. You did."

"Honey please don't compare yourself to me. You have so many options and you'll have help." Lorelai hugged her daughter. "I'll help you get through this, okay? Luke will too. And your father. And my mom and dad will come around eventually."

Rory nodded and had to fight back her tears.

Friday night dinner was a nightmare. Emily went on and on about how Rory and Logan should come with them to Martha's Vineyard for the summer, until Rory almost yelled at her that they had broken up. Emily looked completely flabbergasted.

"What do you mean broke up?" She asked, sitting down.

"I mean that he cheated on me, then I cheated on him and then we broke up" Rory said bluntly.

"Mom" Lorelai said in a soothing voice. "Try to calm down and let Rory explain."

"It happened over a month ago, I've just been busy with…. Something else" Rory said.

"Well I just don't understand this at all" Emily interrupted. "You were such a perfect couple, he was to come home from London in a couple of months, you couldn't have waited for him?"

"Mom!" Lorelai said indignant.

"There's more" Rory said. She felt that she might as well break the news now and get it over with. "I'm pregnant!"

Silence. For a long time all that was heard through the Gilmore household was the sound of a maid doing god knows what in the kitchen.

"I beg your pardon" Emily finally said.

"I'm pregnant" Rory repeated. She was beginning to feel annoyed.

"You are serious?"

"Mom do you really think Rory would joke about something like this" Lorelai asked, also starting to get annoyed.

"Well I really don't know what to expect anymore" she said looking more pale than a ghost. And then suddenly: "Who's the father?"

"Just a guy" Rory answered evasively. She didn't know if her grandparents knew Finn and his family. She actually didn't know that much about Finn except he was from a fairly wealthy family from Australia and had been living in the states since he was seventeen. Come to think about it, she didn't even know what part of Australia he was from.

"Just a guy?" Emily almost screamed and got up and left the room. Richard just sat there, looking oddly grey in the face.

"Dad, say something" Lorelai said, sounding concerned.

"Do you plan to keep this child?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah. But I still have a plan for my future, I just need to change a couple of things now."

Richard nodded. "And the father, is he in the picture?"

"Um, no. He doesn't know and I kinda want to keep it that way. He is not the commitment type of guy and he has some things to deal with on his own" Rory answered truthfully. She had a really hard time picturing Finn as someone's boyfriend, let alone a parent.

Richard nodded again. "We will of course help you find an apartment or a small house and get you settled once you find a job."

Rory felt so overwhelmed by his words that she got up and hugged her grandfather. This was such a huge gesture from his side that Rory couldn't even express her gratitude.

Emily came back some timer later, yelling some more, but finally calming down enough to rejoice the fact she was going to be a great grandmother.

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A/N: That was it. Tell me if it's totally crab (put try to be nice about it), there's no point in continuing if it sucks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Quote of the week:**

**Carrie Bradshaw:** "I put a bird in my hair."

From 'Sex And The City: The Movie' (because it's an absolutely awesome movie)

A/N: Yeah, still don't own anything, in case you were wondering.

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**Chapter 2: The Pros And Cons Of Breathing**

About 8 months later Rory gave birth to a small, dark haired boy she named Daniel Richard Gilmore. Her friends had of course found out she was pregnant, but the only ones to know the truth about the child's father was Lorelai, Lane and Paris and they were all sworn to secrecy. As far as Stephanie and Colin and everyone else were concerned, Rory had had some stupid one-night stand with a guy whose name she didn't even know.

Daniel was perfect. His hair was dark, almost black and his eyes were the same green colour as his father's. Rory loved him more than life itself. She had gotten herself a job at the New York Times and although it wasn't her dream job, it was a start. She sometimes met Mitchum Huntzberger but did her best to stay away from him and keeping forced conversation to an ultimate low.

She still hung out with Stephanie and Colin, they had moved to New York as well, Colin getting a job in his dad's law firm and Stephanie tagging along. They had gotten engaged a couple of days before Daniel's fourth birthday.

By now it was quite clear that Daniel's heritage was a little bit more exotic than most other children. He had light olive skin, almost completely dark hair and light green eyes. Lorelai sometimes joked that his father most have been a total hunk, but Rory just shrugged it off. She thought about Finn once in a while, wondering how he was doing and such, but she never found the courage to call him. What little she actually heard about him, she heard from Colin and Stephanie, like the late thursday afternoon Colin came over.

"So Rory" he said while she poured coffee for them in the kitchen. "Don't you think it's time to talk some truth?"

She almost poured coffee all over herself when he said that. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I just thought that you wanted to share with me who Daniel's father really is."

"Oh" she said. "No." Rory smiled as she handed Colin the cup.

"Alright, then I'll say it. It's Finn, right?"

Rory coughed coffee all over her self and stood to get a towel, muttering something inaudible to Colin.

"Sorry didn't quite catch that" he yelled after her.

"I said that is preposterous" she answered and returned to the room with a towel and a new shirt.

"Well, I talked to Finn after the graduation party and he had quite an interesting story to tell."

"I'm sure he did" Rory said, taking a small sip of her coffee.

"He told me that you two slept together, but you completely freaked out the morning after and that you never talked after that. Sounds about right?"

"Sort of" she muttered.

"So unless you adopted a new persona that week, I would have to guess that Finn's the father. Seeing as there wasn't all that many black haired, green eyed, olive skinned guys running around in New Haven."

"Yeah yeah you're a fucking detective" Rory groaned. She usually didn't cuss, but the occasion called for it, she thought.

"Thank you. So, now to more important matters: does Finn know?"

Rory shook her head and suddenly felt awkward and embarrassed. Colin was an old friend of Finn. This could turn out ugly.

"Though as much. Doubt Finn would have been able to shut up about it if he had known."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know, Rory. It's the right thing to do, but it's your life. I would think about letting him know if I were you."

Rory nodded. Colin was right.

"So, onto the real reason I'm here, except of course to determine your son's parentage. I talked to Finn some days ago. He'll be in town the next couple of weeks for some business and the wedding." Colin and Stephanie had finally agreed on a date. Rory was going to be the maid of honour.

Rory nodded again. "How is he?"

"Good, I think. He works a lot. His father is still sick, so Finn pretty much runs the family company."

"Yeah, I never got around to find out exactly what it is that his family does."

"They are in real estate. Hotels and such" Colin said. Finn had always said he was a male Paris Hilton, only more promiscuous. "Finn wasn't suppose to take over the company, but his older brother Charlie was killed in a car crash when Finn was fifteen, so…"

"Oh" Rory said. "I didn't know."

"Yeah, well it wasn't exactly something Finn ran around and told everybody about. His parents sent him to live with some relatives about two years after the accident when Finn had gotten completely out of control."

"The drinking?"

"Yeah among other things. I met Finn's sister once, she told me he was destructive and violent before they sent him away."

"Wow. Kinda hard to imagine Finn being destructive and violent" Rory said.

"Yeah well he was always very busy being drunk, so he might simply not have had the time."

Rory smiled. "So what you are trying to tell me is that Finn will be coming to New York soon and that I should probably tell him about Daniel?"

"Yeah something like that. Look, there's a lot more to Finn than meets the eye. Just, give him a chance, you know. He might surprise you."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind" Rory said, as Daniel bounced into the room with his nanny. Sally was a senior in high school and she was absolutely in love with Daniel. Rory had hired her on the spot when they met in the park and Sally had never let her down.

"Mommy" the boy shrieked and ran to Rory.

"Hey you" she said, kissing his cheek. "Look who's here to visit." Daniel turned from his mother to see Colin sitting in the opposite chair.

"Onkel Cowin" Daniel screamed. He still had a little trouble pronouncing Colin

"Hey big guy" Colin said.

Sally came into the room and smiled at them.

"You guys have a good day" Rory asked.

"Yeah it was great. We went to the park and skated" Daniel answered before Sally had a chance to. Rory smiled and got up to get Sally's paycheck.

"I swear it's like looking at Finn" Colin muttered, looking at the child. His hair was ruffled at the top and slightly curled, just like Finn's. Daniel would grow up to hate that hair, Colin new from experience.

"Who's Finn" Sally asked, sounding intrigued. She had always wondered how Daniel's father fitted in to the picture, but never dared to ask and Daniel obviously didn't know a thing.

Colin looked a little surprised. It seemed he had forgotten she was in the room. It happened a lot when he was visiting Rory and her son. Sally didn't really know if she liked the guy, he seemed at bit uptight and snobby for her taste, but Rory and Daniel loved him.

"Um, no one" Colin said.

Sally just nodded. She knew better than to press the issue.

"Rory I need to get going, I'm picking up Finn at the airport to night. Steph is going to call you later and plan some things. She has gotten a little wedding crazy, consider yourself warned."

Rory nodded. "It's fine, I totally understand."

"Good, 'cause I don't" Colin said and kissed her cheek before leaving.

Sally loved taking Daniel to the park. He was such a happy kid and she couldn't help but to love him. She sometimes thought about why he didn't have a father figure in his life and where his dad was. He most have been somewhat exotic, Sally had decided, since Daniel's skin colour was a little darker than Rory's porcelain tone and his hair almost black.

They were having a snow fight and Sally couldn't help but to smile when she looked at the little guy. He was so adorable, even when he tried to shower her in snow. She threw a ball at him but missed and hit a guy in a suit that stood nearby.

"Oh my god, I am SO sorry" she said, trying to brush of the snow.

"No, that's quite alright" the guy in the suit said, smiling.

"You talk funny" Daniel said.

The guy laughed and got down to Daniel's level. "That's because I'm not from around here."

"Oh" Daniel said, looking at the man. He had very dark hair and green eyes. "Where are you from?"

The man smiled at him. "Australia. Do you know where that is?"

Daniel nodded. "Very far from here."

The man laughed again. "What's your name mate?"

"Daniel" Daniel said.

"Well I'm Finn and it's nice to meet you. Now you go wash your big sister with some snow" he said, getting up.

"Oh, I'm just his nanny, Sally said, almost getting flustered. The guy was a total hottie.

"Well in that case you have my humble apology" he said and smiled at her. Sally felt her knees weaken. He was tall, dark and handsome, as Lisa, her friend, would say.

"It's fine" she mumbled, not really knowing what to say.

"I wanna go ice skating" Daniel suddenly said, pulling her hand.

"Yeah sure Daniel. Again, I'm really sorry about the snow" Sally said, letting Daniel pull her arm even harder.

"It's quite alright love" the man said and walked away.

When Sally returned to Rory's apartment, Rory was already dressed for her usual Friday night dinner plans with her grandparents. She wasn't bringing Daniel this time, because her grand mother had said there would be some people over and Daniel didn't always behave very well.

"Hey you guys" Rory said, hugging her son fiercely, "Did you have fun in the park?"

"Yeah it was fun. Sally hit a man with snow" Daniel said.

Rory turned to look at Sally with a raised eyebrow. "You hit a man?"

"We had a snowball fight and I accidentally hit this guy with a snowball. Turned out that he was this really hot Australian guy…"

"Australian?" Rory interrupted her.

"Yeah his name was Fenn or Finn or something. Totally cute with the accent and all. Are you okay?"

Rory had turned pale. She swallowed hard. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah a bit. Daniel thought he talked weird. Is there a problem?"

"No it's fine, I'm fine. I guess I should get going" she said and absentminded kissed Daniel on the cheek before leaving.

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A/N: Feel free to rewiev!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Quotes of the week:**

**Sacks**: Sheriff wants to ask you some questions.

**Veronica**: My answer was final. I will not go to prom with him.

From Veronica Mars (I loved that show)

**Baroness Rodmilla De Ghent**: Darling, nothing is final 'til you're dead, and even then, I'm sure God negotiates.

From the movie 'Ever After' (I just love this quote – sorry if some find it offense).

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**Chapter 3: Dance Dance**

Rory's head was a complete mess when she reached her grandparents house. It could have been him, it fitted, but then again, what were the odds? Finn didn't exactly seem like the guy who would walk around in parks. But then again, a lot had happened over the last five years. There was a very real chance that Daniel had talked to his father today.

"Rory dear, come in" her grandmother almost yelled at her. Rory briefly hugged her and entered the house.

"Hi grandpa" she said and hugged him as well.

"Rory dear. How are you?"

"Oh I'm fine" she answered.

"Really? You look a little pale dear" Emily said, looking at her with a frown.

"No, I'm just a bit tired, that's all. Long day at work. When is mom getting here?"

"She was supposed to be here already. Luke isn't coming though, Lorelai said he had something to do, although I can't for the life of me figure out what can be so important that it needs dealing with a Friday night."

Rory just smiled. Her mom had married Luke some time ago, but Luke still cringed whenever the topic of Friday night dinner came up and he avoided it as often as he could. Her mother was always a little late, which was something she did only to annoy Emily. Rory knew this, but tonight she just really needed to talk to her mom.

"Finally" Emily said, as the maid answered the door and Lorelai entered the living room.

"Sorry I'm late, but.."

"Save your excuses, young lady" Emily said. "Sit down, I just need to take care of something in the kitchen and then our guests should arrive."

"Wonder what she possible needs to take care of in the kitchen" Lorelai whispered, but when Rory didn't even smile, she looked more closely at her daughter. "What's wrong?"

"Finn's back" Rory whispered back.

"Finn? As in Daniel's father Finn?" Rory nodded. "How do you know?"

"Well Colin told me he would be back, but then Sally came home with Daniel from the park today and tells me how she accidentally hit a guy with a snowball and he was Australian and his name was Finn!"

"Wow" was all Lorelai could say.

"And apparently he is really hot." Rory made a face. The conversation had stirred up a lot of old emotions she barely knew she had.

"Oh honey, that must have been really weird" Lorelai said and hugged her daughter, as the doorbell rang.

"Oh that must be the Morgan's" Emily said, entering the living room again. "They are some of our oldest friends and they just got here from Australia. Isn't that exciting?"

Two people, about the same age as Emily and Richard, entered the living room. They were tanned and seemed dressed a bit odd, seeing as it was winter in Connecticut right now.

"Emily dear" the woman said, hugging Emily fiercely.

"Bloody weather outside" the man said. Rory immediately picked up on the accent and started to feel weird again. Apparently everything about this day was going to remind her of Finn.

"Claire and John, this is out daughter Lorelai and our granddaughter Rory" Emily said, looking at them with pride.

"Oh Emily, they are adorable" the woman who's name was Claire gushed.

"Yes we try to be as adorable as humanly possible" Lorelai said with a smile.

They all entered the dining room and sat down at the table.

"So Rory, Richard tells me you graduated Yale a couple of years ago" the man, John, said.

"Yeah I graduated five years ago" Rory said, not really sure what to say.

"Our grandson went to Yale as well. Graduated the same time you did."

"Oh, what's his name, maybe I had some classes with him."

"Finley, although I believe his friends calls him Finn" Claire answered.

"Oh I remember him. He was such a charming boy" Emily gushed. Rory just felt like throwing up. "Do you remember Richard?"

"Yes, I believe he and his friends drank all of my Scotch the last time they were here" Richard said, sounding somewhat displeased.

John looked apologetic. "Well, that was a long time ago and Finley had some issues that needed addressing. I can assure you he has grown into a fine young man. He is practically running the Firm now."

"Oh, I didn't know. How is he doing" Richard asked, sounding more interested now.

"Very good. But we are still hoping our son Landon will get better. I do believe Finley is a little too young for all that responsibility. Besides, he's getting married soon…"

Emily interrupted Claire with a loud "oh how wonderful."

Lorelai looked at Rory, who was very busy studying her plate.

"Rory, I think my zipper just broke. Come help me fix it" Lorelai said and grabbed Rory, before backing out of the room, ignoring her mother's "Lorelai please!"

"Well that was uncomfortable" Lorelai said, as she locked the door to the upstairs bathroom. Rory just sat down and looked into the thin air. She felt miserable, although she couldn't explain why. She had never really had feelings for Finn, and even if she did, that was a long time ago. She shouldn't be feeling like this now, she scolded herself.

Lorelai sat down next to her. "Wanna tell me what's going on?"

"Just caught me by surprise, that's all."

"I thought you said you didn't have feelings for the guy?"

"I didn't think I had. But now, hearing he's getting married. It just…" Rory couldn't explain what she was feeling, but she knew he hated the fact that Finn was getting married. "And now I just feel so stupid. Our fight… I never told you, but we fought mainly because Finn said he was in love with me and I said he was being ridiculous. And then we both said some hurtful things and we never spoke again. And the worst part is, I think I might have been in love with him too, if it hadn't been for Logan."

"And now he is getting married" Lorelai said. "Rory honey, if he is back in New York, perhaps you should look him up and tell him everything. See what happens."

"Yeah Colin said that as well. Finn is coming to the wedding, so I'll see him no matter what."

"Does Colin know?"

Rory nodded. "He came over yesterday and we talked a bit. He guessed it. Said it wasn't that hard, seeing as Finn was the only guy at Yale that looked like that. God I feel stupid. Why didn't I just call him when I found about that I was pregnant?"

"Honey, you were confused and scared. It's natural to feel this way. Why don't I come back to New York with you and we do some shopping tomorrow and figure this out. And then maybe you could give Finn a call or something?"

Rory nodded. "I would like that."

They got up and Rory wiped of her mascara, before re-entering the dining room. Emily and Claire were right now talking about how fantastic their respective granddaughter and grandson was. Rory felt weird, as she sat down at the table.

"Rory, are you alright" Emily asked, sounding a bit worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit tired, that's all."

"We were just talking about a party that we are all going to tomorrow. You should come, if would be a great opportunity for you to meet Finley" Emily said, smiling.

"Oh, I've met him" Rory said in a small voice. The whole table looked confused. "I actually dated a friend of his back at Yale, so we sometimes met. He was very nice" she said to Claire, who looked very happy now.

"Then you should definitely come. It would be just like old times" Claire said.

"Oh, I really don't know" Rory said, unsure of herself.

"Nonsense, you will come. Lorelai, you and Luke should join us."

Lorelai looked at her mother with uncertainty. "Um I think Luke and I had plans tomorrow…" She started, but one look of almost panic in her daughter's eyes softened her. "But I suppose we can change it so only Luke does the thing we were planning to do. So I'll come" Lorelai said, looking at her daughter, trying to reassure her.

They left the dinner fairly quick after that. Lorelai had phoned Luke and told him about the rescheduling. They drove to Rory's apartment and had a movie night with tons of candy.

The following day Rory had left Daniel with Sally for a couple of hours, so she could go shopping with her mother.

"So, do you want to look absolutely stunning or drop dead gorgeous when you meet the Aussie" her mother had asked, as they entered a toy store.

"Doesn't that sort of amount to the same thing" Rory asked, looking at the dresses.

"No, if you are stunning you'll take his breath away and he will be in awe and think you're a real classy lady. If you on the other hand go for the drop dead gorgeous look, you'll take his breath away and he will want to sleep with you and…" Lorelai stopped herself, realizing what she had just said.

"I don't think we should make it our end goal to make him want to sleep with me" Rory said.

"Yeah, let's go for the stunning look. Drop dead gorgeous was a bad idea."

Rory finally managed to find a dress she liked. It was black, strapless, tight fitting at the top and sort of loose at the waist down. Her hair was straight and loose and in the end she thought she had managed to make herself look pretty damn hot.

"Are you sure you can do this" Lorelai asked her daughter, standing outside the huge mansion were the party was held.

"No. But I guess I really don't have a choice" Rory sighed just as the door opened.

It seemed like there were over a hundred people (there were probably more) and at first Rory didn't recognize a single person. And then she saw him. He had his back to her, but she had no doubt that it was indeed him. His tall frame and dark hair stood out in the crowd.

Rory nudged her mother and nodded towards him.

"That's him" she whispered. Rory nodded. "He has a very nice backside. Does it match the front?"

"Mom, be serious, this is hard for me."

"Sorry honey" Lorelai said, trying to be serious.

"Lorelai. Rory. You're late" Emily's loud voice could be heard in a miles radius. Both Lorelai and Rory cringed as heads turned to look at the two women who apparently were late.

"Sorry mom. Traffic" Lorelai said, trying not to feel horribly embarrassed.

Rory looked up and saw that Finn had also turned to look at them. She thought she saw a flicker of a smirk before he turned to the woman standing beside him and said something. Rory felt sick to her stomach when she saw the woman. She had flaming red hair, was tall and thin and beautiful and on her left hand's ring finger she sported a ring with the biggest diamond Rory had ever seen,

"So, have you met Eliza and George?" Emily looked them over.

"Who and who" Lorelai said.

"Eliza and George who are hosting this party" Emily almost rolled her eyes at them.

"Oh" Lorelai and Rory said together. They still had no idea what Emily was talking about, but thought it best just to play along.

"Hey you" someone said behind them.

Rory turned and was hugged. "Hey Steph. How are you doing?"

"Oh you know, bored out of my ass" Stephanie said with a flick of her hand. "Have you seen the old gang?"

"No, no one so far" Rory said, feeling uneasy. Exactly how many from the "old gang" were here?

"Then what are you standing around here for?" She grabbed Rory's hand and led her away before Rory even had a chance to protest. "By the way, you look dead sexy tonight" Stephanie added, as she pulled Rory away.

"Hey Colin" Rory said as they met with him.

"Hey Rory" he said, kissing her cheek.

"Hey Ace."

Rory almost spun around at the sound of her old (and much hated) nickname.

"Logan! Hi!" She was definitely having second thoughts about this whole party thing.

"Logan was just telling us stories about London" Colin said, when Stephanie nudged him in the ribs. "Ouch" he hissed at her, but she just smiled. "Well, we'll leave you to it" she said, dragging Colin away before he had a chance to say anything. Rory looked at the floor, not really sure on how to react.

"So, how you've been?"

"Um, fine" Rory answered, finally looking up. Logan hadn't changed much, he looked a little bit older, but other than that, he was the same old Logan. "You?"

"Working for my dad, you know. But other than that, life is pretty good. So, are you here with someone?"

"My mom" she said, feeling a bit embarrassed. What 27 year old went to a party with their mother?

"Still close, huh?"

"Yeah."

"So, this is weird" Logan finally said. Rory nodded in agreement, this was beyond weird. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything.."

"Don't be, please" Rory interrupted him. "I think we are both equally to blame. Seems stupid to fight over something that happened five years ago."

"Yeah it does. I'm glad you feel that way. So are you seeing anybody? Got that special somebody in your life?"

Rory wondered if she should lie, but thought the better of it. He would probably find out anyway. "Um, actually there kind of is."

"Really? Were is he tonight?"

"Home with his nanny. He's five, so…"

Logan looked flabbergasted. "You have a kid?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I did not see that coming. Well, tell me all about him."

"His name is Daniel, he turns five in a couple of months and he's probably the love of my life." Rory smiled at the thought of Daniel. He always had that effect on her, no matter how he behaved.

"Am I being to personnel when I ask about his father?"

"Oh… Yeah maybe a bit. He's not really in the picture. Daniel doesn't know him, so…"

Logan nodded. He was afraid to ask the question, but knew it would be nagging him if he didn't. "He, he isn't…. I'm not… Is it me" he finally got out.

Rory almost laughed at him. He sounded so nervous it was almost funny. "No Logan, Daniel is not your son, so you can start breathing again."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, it's just, well… I'm not ready for that kind of thing, you know?"

Rory nodded. She knew. "Neither was Daniel's father, hence him not being in the picture. But it's good, my mom and grandparents really helped me out, finding me an apartment and taking care of Daniel when I worked. So it all worked out in the end."

"That's good Rory. I'm happy for you. Now, let's get something to drink."

"Did I hear someone say drink" a voice interrupted them. Rory looked up and meet Finn's green eyes. Sally was right, he was (still) extremely good looking.

"Finn, my man" Logan said, giving Finn a manly hug (the kind were you smack each other on the back for no apparent reason). "Have you met Rory?"

"I don't believe I had the pleasure yet" he said, giving her hand a kiss. His accent was the same; everything about him seemed the same, yet there was something different about him.

"Rory, honey, you need to save me from my mother" Lorelai said, walking up behind Finn and Logan.

"Mom, you remember Logan" Rory gestured to Logan, who smiled at Lorelai, "and this is Finn, an old friend from Yale." Rory gestured toward the tall guy standing next to Logan. Lorelai had to agree, he was definitely good looking.

"Hi, I'm Rory's mom" she said.

"Pleasure to meet you" the taller man said.

"Nice accent. Australia?"

The man, Finn, nodded. "You're good. Most people just think I'm a sober Irish." Lorelai laughed. He was actually quite charming. Lorelai could see why her daughter had fallen for him.

"So um, we should probably get going" Lorelai said, sensing the tension in the air. "I do believe your grandmother has found an eligible bachelor to set you up with." And with that she gently turned Rory away from the two men and into the crowd.

"So, that was him?"

Rory nodded. "That was him." She felt emotionally drained, even though their encounter had lasted less than five minutes.

"He's hot. I totally get you know" Lorelai snickered, as they moved to get outside and get some fresh air.

"Thanks mom" Rory said sarcastically.

"Oh, I forgot the booze" Lorelai said, as they entered the huge balcony. ,Listen, I'll be right back, I just need a drink."

Rory stood alone, enjoying the cold air. She could hear the party going on inside, but felt better out her, knowing she was alone. Or so she thought.

"So tell me love, what have you been up to all this time?"

Rory yanked around to see Finn standing up against the doorframe. He pushed himself into an upright position and walked out on the balcony.

"Oh not much" she said and felt uneasy. He was standing very close to her know. "How about you? Stephanie told me about your father."

"Yeah that was pretty rough. I guess one could say that was a tough week, what with being yelled at by the person you where in love with and your father almost dying…" He wasn't gonna let this go, Rory could tell. He wanted to talk about what had happened.

"Finn, I'm sorry, but…" Rory struggled to find the words. "Things got out of hand and we did something stupid."

Finn actually snorted at that. "Call it whatever you want love, but don't try to excuse yourself."

"What?"

"I had feelings for you and unless I'm sorely mistaken you had feelings for me. Perhaps it was stupid getting that drunk and sleeping together, but it would have happened sooner of later, no matter what. The chemistry was there, it was all just a matter of time."

Rory cringed at his words, especially the fact he used past tense. He didn't have feelings for her anymore, he was getting married, and she was left behind feeling more than she should.

"I really don't think this is the right time" she began and tried to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.

"Then please, Rory, tell me when the right time is" he said, sounding a bit angry. "Because I have been waiting for five fucking years for some kind of explanation."

"I'm sorry." Rory wanted to cry now. She was not at all prepared for this conversation.

"Well sorry doesn't really seem to do any good now. You know what, I had no idea you were so cold. You didn't even call when you heard about my father."

"Finn please. I'm sorry, but you have to understand…"

"What? What do I have to understand? You acted like a bitch…"

"I found out I was pregnant" she blurted out, tears now streaming down her face.

He took a step back. "What?"

"When you left, I found out I was pregnant. I called Stephanie and she told me you had left and…"

"WHAT?"

"Finn I'm sorry, but…"

"I can't deal with this right now" he said and left. Rory just stood there, feeling absolutely miserable. This was a huge mistake, she shouldn't have told him, not this way.

"Rory, are you still out here?" She heard her mother's voice.

"Mom?"

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I met Finn" she sobbed even harder. "Told him… He just left." She flung herself at her mother and cried even harder.

"Rory, what's going on? Finn just fled the party like a bat out of…" Colin stopped himself and looked at the scene before him. Rory was openly crying while her mother tried to comfort her. "What's going on?" He looked questioningly at Lorelai.

"I don't really know" Lorelai almost whispered.

Rory wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Finn sort of cornered me and I told him."

"Oh." Colin couldn't really find the right words. This explained why Finn had grabbed a bottle of scotch on his way out. He knew Finn didn't drink much anymore (his fiancée didn't approve), so he was confused at this when he saw it, but now it all made sense. Finn had a nasty habit of running away from his problems, like when his brother was killed in a car crash. When he had been released from the hospital, he had started drinking heavily, turning to sex and booze instead of his family, which had only resulted in so many more problems that only made Finn drink even harder.

"Colin, could you please tell my mother that I wasn't feeling well and that Rory took me home. I will call her tomorrow" Lorelai said, gently leading Rory in to the house again. Colin nodded and left the balcony as well.

* * *

**A/N:** So that was long. I'm still a few chapters ahead, but I don't know how much time I'm gonna spend on the writing these next couple of weeks. My boyfriend is being deployed in a month, so I wanna spend as much time with him as possible before that. Sorry, but boyfriend comes before writing. I'll try to update when I can, but no promises.

**A/N:** To all those who bothered to review: Thank you SO much, you make my day when you do that, so please please continue.

**I promise there will be an update at some point, just not right now, because of all the stuff going on in my life right now.**

**xoxo**

**Anne**


	4. Chapter 4

**Colin:** I'm Colin. This is Finn. And you are?  
**Lorelai: **Her mother!  
**Finn: **My God those are good genes.

From Gilmore Girls, if you had doubts

A/N: Still own nothing!!

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**Chapter 4: Parker Lewis Can't Lose (But I'm Going To Give It My Best Shot)**

Sally was surprised to see Rory and her mother Lorelai back so soon. Rory had said they would probably be out all night, but it was only somewhat past ten. Rory looked like she had been crying and Lorelai was talking in a very soft and silent tone, unlike her usual loud and perky one.

Sally had known better than to question this, and had just gone to the guestroom where she usually slept when she was watching Daniel in the evening and night. Rory and Lorelai had gone straight to Rory's bedroom and stayed in there.

The following morning was awkward at best. Rory was still pale and she didn't eat anything. In the end Lorelai had decided that shopping was the way to go and she had asked Sally to stay an extra few hours with Daniel.

Approximately two hours after Rory and Lorelai had left, the doorbell rang. Sally got up and opened the door. Outside stood the guy from the park, looking somewhat tired but still very hot. Sally was intrigued, had he tracked her down? He was definitely older than her, perhaps even ten years, but she didn't care, he was dead sexy. Her high hopes evaporated quickly, however, when he opened his mouth: "Does Rory Gilmore live here?"

"Um yeah, but she's not in right now" Sally said.

"Do you know when she'll be home?"

"Soon I think." Lorelai hadn't really been specific about their schedule, but usually they only shopped for an hour and a half, maybe a little more. They were probably on their way home.

"Can I come in and wait?"

Sally thought it over. She wasn't really sure if she should let him in, he was a complete stranger and Rory only had a few very close friends that came over. She was a very private person. But on the other hand, this guy intrigued her for some reason, even more so because he sort of reminded her of someone.

"Um, yeah sure. I can call her if you want?"

"No, that's fine, I'll just wait" he said and entered the apartment.

"Sally I'm bored" Daniel's voice could be heard from the living room.

"You can wait in the living room with us" Sally said. The man followed her into the living room where Daniel sat in the sofa looking at a book he had gotten from his great-grandparents. He looked up when Sally entered the room, followed by a tall man that Daniel thought he had seen before.

"Danny, this is…" Sally stopped. She had completely forgotten his name.

"Finn" Daniel supplied. He had liked the strange man, even though he talked weird, and had remembered his name from that day they met in the park.

Sally looked at Finn. He was wearing a dark suit, but the tie was loose and his dress shirt hanging loosely over the fancy pants. She also noticed the way he looked at Daniel, a mixture of panic and curiosity in his gorgeous green eyes. Those green eyes… Sally looked back at Daniel and something clicked in her mind: Finn was Daniel's father! He had to be: he had the same black hair, the same green eyes, the same mouth and was olive skinned.

"Can I get you something" she asked a bit nervous.

"No that's fine love, I'll just wait here" he said without taking his eyes of Daniel.

To say Finn was overwhelmed was an understatement. He was completely taken aback. He had tried to drink himself into a stupor, but had only managed to get really sick and throw up. Jane had called him a couple of times, not knowing what was going on. Just the thought of Jane made him feel sick again. How was he going to explain this? He had dodged her calls, not wanting her to listen to his drunken rants. In the end it had been Colin who found him. Finn thought it was nice that Colin had come after him at first, but quickly learned that Colin had known about Daniel for some time and having it confirmed by Rory herself some days ago. He had felt completely betrayed and had taken a swung at Colin.

They had fought a little, but the combination of Finn being too drunk and Colin just being a complete sissy had ended the fight quickly. So they sat down and talked. Well, Colin talked, Finn threw up. And even though he was very drunk, Colin managed to talk him back to reality: Rory was horrible with confrontations, meaning it really shouldn't surprise anyone how she had reacted when she discovered she was pregnant. And some of the things he had said during their fight had been very harsh. And he had left to go back to Australia, not even bothering to call her. And he had been dealing with his father's heart attack and following disease.

There were numerous reasons to why Rory hadn't told Finn that he had a son. Number one reason probably being Finn himself, as Colin so nicely had pointed out. Finn asked Colin what he was supposed to do. He wasn't even sure he liked kids, and now he had one of his own. Colin had advised him to go see Rory, talk to her and meet Daniel.

And then came the big question. What was his son like? Colin had shrugged. "Like any other kid a guess. Small and somewhat annoying." They had laughed a little at this point, but soon got serious again. "He's a good kid, Finn, but he gets in trouble a lot. Guess he takes after you."

Now Finn found himself standing in front of said kid and having absolutely no idea what to do. He decided to play it safe.

"Hey mate, what'cha reading?"

The kid looked at him with his big green eyes that looked a lot like his own. And then he remembered that he had met them in the park the other day. God this was surreal. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen the resemblance before.

"Just a book, but it's really boring" the boy said. Daniel, his name was Daniel, Finn said to himself, mentally slapping himself for referring to him as 'the boy'. "Oh" was all he could think of saying.

"You can look at it with me if you want" Daniel said.

Finn nodded and gingerly sat down. This felt so weird words could not describe it. He looked at the book, but Daniel was right, it was definitely boring.

"Are you really from Australia?"

Finn looked at boy. "Yeah" he said.

"Have you met a shark?"

He chuckled. That was a weird question. "Um, you don't exactly meet sharks, you swim around and if you're really unlucky they attack you."

"You didn't answer my question." Okay, the kid definitely had his mother's personality.

"Yeah I have. I used to surf a lot (at this Daniel said cool and Finn couldn't help but to smile) in Australia and sometimes there would be sharks."

"What kind of sharks?"

"Um, all sorts I suppose. Great white, tiger, bull sharks, those kinds. I'm quite happy to say that they never got close enough for me to say for sure."

Daniel smiled at him. "I like sharks, they're cool."

"Yeah I got that. I'm not exactly a fan. I had a mate that was eaten by a shark."

"What's a mate" Daniel asked.

"It's a friend."

"Cool."

Finn tried to smile. The experience hadn't been that cool, they were thirteen and had been surfing, when suddenly his friend Alex had disappeared under water, only to return seconds later screaming at the top of his lungs while being dragged around by a shark. All that was left of Alex after the attack was his right foot and an arm!

"Do you like sport?"

Finn looked at Daniel. This was a very strange kid. "Yeah, sure" he answered.

"Mom doesn't like sport. Neither does Grandma. I like soccer."

"That's a pretty cool sport. I used to play soccer back home."

They were interrupted by the door opening and someone yelling: "Mom would you stop it, stuffing chocolate down my throat is not going to help!"

Finn immediately got up, feeling tense. He felt the courage to confront Rory leaving his body for each passing second.

"Rory come on. You have to face your demons. And your Aussie. And chocolate will help!"

"Only if I suffocate in it" he heard Rory mutter. "Daniel, where are you?"

"Mom" the boy got up and ran out of the room.

"Hi honey" Rory greeted her son, picking him up and kissing him on the cheek.

"Hi Rory."

Rory turned around and saw Finn leaning against the doorframe. He looked like he had been dragged through the inner circle of hell and back again.

"Finn has a mate that was eaten by a shark. A mate is a friend." Daniel said like it was the coolest thing in the world. Rory shoot Finn an ugly look. Who in their right mind told a four-year-old things like that?

"Daniel why don't you go with Grandma down to the candy shop and max out her credit card? Mommy just need to talk to Finn" Rory said. Daniel nodded eagerly and took Lorelai's hand and almost bounced out of the apartment before even getting dressed. Once they were out of the apartment, Rory turned on Finn. "What do you want?"

* * *

A/N: So thanks to all who reviewed, it's really great you guys. Keep em coming, I looooooooooove reviews. Oh, and feel free to tell me if you have ideas or thoughts or something like that for the story. I'm always open for suggestions.  
And again, updates might be slow, because of the boyfriend and other crazy stuff happening in my life, so sorry about that. But I promise I'll update as soon as possible


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, it's been what, forever? Sorry about that, been busy with my crazy life. But I just got accepted into University today, so I thought I would share my joy with you.**

**Quote of the week (from Veronica Mars)**

**Dean**: I saw you talking to that guy. What'd you talk about?  
**Veronica**: Jane Austen. But he dissed Pride and Prejudice, so I had to throw a beer on him.

I looooooove Jane Austen. She had wicked skills

Oh, and before I forget: I own nothing!!

* * *

**Chapter 5: I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off**

He took a deep breath. This was going to be tough. "I wanted to see my son!"

Rory walked into the kitchen and started making coffee. "Well, now you've seen him. Leave!" She was definitely not in the mood for this and facing Finn was hard. During their shopping spree, Lorelai had helped Rory come to the realization that she had feelings for Finn and that it had hurt her a lot that he was getting married.

"Rory that's not fair" he said. ,You kept something extremely important from me and now you just expect me to accept that?"

"You're getting married Finn" she said, trying not to sound too hurt. It was hard. Even though he looked awful, he was still good looking. All she wanted to do was kiss him.

"That has nothing to do with this." He ran his hand through his hair. "I know I was a jerk and said horrible things to you during our fight. But you have to understand that I was in love with you and you walked all over my feelings. Can we just let it go and move on to the present?"

"Finn, I don't want you to just drop in and out of Daniel's life whenever you feel like it." She looked stern now. "My father did that and nothing but misery came from that. It's all or nothing."

Finn nodded. "I want to be in his life Rory. This is important. Does he know anything about me?"

Rory shook her head. Daniel wasn't quite in the age where he began questioning the lack of a father and Rory had been very vague the few times the subject was brought up. "He has never needed a father" she said.

That stung. A lot. Finn felt angry now, but tried to stay calm. "I see. Then I don't understand why you told me yesterday."

"I felt guilty. I knew what I was doing was wrong and when Colin guessed that it was you…"

Finn nodded. Colin had always been excellent at emotional blackmail. He sat down at the bar chair that stood at the counter in the kitchen. "Could you just tell me something about him?"

"Yeah" she said, sitting down on the opposite side of the counter. "Well, his name is Daniel Richard Gilmore, he turns five on march eighteenth (it dawned on Finn that he didn't even knew his own child's birthday), he loves sharks, hates peas and is overly spoiled by his grandmother and great-grandparents."

"Rory I want to be a part of his life" he said, standing up and moving closer to her. Rory felt uncomfortable being in that close proximity of him. "I want to know him and do stuff with him." He leaned in closer.

This was hard. In a moment of temporary insanity (or so she would call it later) she leaned in and kissed him. Before either of them really knew what was going on, Finn had lifted Rory to the counter and she was opening his shirt, the whole time kissing passionately. His hand travelled up to her bra and opened it.

Sally had sat glued to the door in the guestroom, hoping to catch something of Rory and this Finn character's conversation, but they had been quiet and now she couldn't even hear their muffled voices. She sat for a while, not really knowing what to do. Finally deciding that she was simply too curious and was very thirsty, she opened the door and looked into the living room. They were no wear in sight. Maybe they had left?

Sally walked right out into the kitchen and stopped dead and almost screamed. There on top of the kitchen counter sat Rory with her legs rapped around Finn. His shirt was open and it was quite clear that Rory's bra had disappeared. Finn broke away from Rory at the sight of Sally standing there in complete shock.

"Oh… I'm… Sorry" Sally stammered and fled the scene.

"Well that was sufficiently embarrassing" Rory muttered. Finn only nodded, looking everywhere except at Rory.

Finn's phone rang. He looked at the caller id that read Jane.

"Yeah" he said into the phone. "No, some things just came up that I wasn't prepared for. I'll come home soon, we'll talk then." He hung up.

Rory felt horrible. Finn was getting married and they had just made out. She was a horrible person.

"I'm sorry, we shouldn't have done this" she said, looking at the floor. It wasn't exactly like she was single either. Some time ago she had met up with Dean again and they were now trying to start something new.

"No" Finn just said. "I should go. I need to talk to Jane about this and…" He stopped, realizing they hadn't decided what to do about Daniel and Finn.

"I will call you later and we can work something out" Rory sighed. Finn just nodded and left.

Rory sighed again. This had gotten completely out of hand and she had no idea what to do now. Probably apologise to Sally, the girl most have gotten the shock of her life. Rory heard the door open and then close, Daniel saying something about TV and then her mother entered the kitchen.

"We saw Finn on the way out. Why was his shirt open?" She looked her over. "And where on earth are your bra?"

Rory pointed to the floor and swallowed. "Things got a little crazy. I need to go apologise to Sally."

Rory knocked on the door to the guestroom and entered. Sally was sitting on the bed, flipping through channels.

"Sal, I'm so sorry you had to see that" Rory began, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"Who is he?"

"He is an old friend from college. I used to date one of his friends and then one night we got really drunk and slept together. It was a mistake and we got into a fight about it. I found out I was pregnant not so long after, but Finn, that's his name, had gone home."

"Yeah he said he was from Australia."

Rory nodded. "I had a feeling it was him you ran into in the park, but I wasn't sure. And just so you know, it's me who's the bad guy here. I never told him that I was pregnant, it wasn't like he just didn't want to be a part of Daniel's life."

Sally nodded and turned off the TV. "I Understand. They look a lot alike."

"Yeah they do. Personality wise as well."

"So, what happens now?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. Finn is engaged and I'm with Dean. This thing you saw in the kitchen, it was just us handling a tense situation really bad and I am truly sorry you had to see that. But I'm guessing Finn is going to be a part of Daniel's life now, as soon as I find a way to tell him."

"I don't think you should worry about that, Daniel really like him."

A/N: Short, I know. I'll try to update soon, I promist. And again, I cannot express my gratitude enough to those who review. You guys rock! And to all of you who doesn't review: You just do!


	6. Chapter 6

Hi guys. A thousand times sorry for being late with an update. My life pretty much suck right now, but I'm trying to write myself out of it, so hopefully there will be an update soon.

Again, a thousand times sorry. And thank you to all the wonderfull people who have reviewed. Keep it cming, because it keeps me going.

**And now for the quote of the week:**

**Sheriff Lamb:** I know you from somewhere.

**Wallace:** Yeah, you told me to go see the Wizard and ask him for some guts.

**Sheriff Lamb:** Well, did you?

**Wallace:** Yeah. _smirks_ He said to let you know that you're the only sheriff in America that he considers a true Friend of Dorothy.

Again, an old favourite from Veronica Mars

* * *

**Chapter 6: I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers Chapter**

"I'm not talking to you" Finn said into the phone.

Colin laughed. "Well then you should probably not have answered your phone. I just wanted to know how it went."

"It was... eventful" Finn said evasive. "Look, I'm just pulling up at the hotel, I'll talk to you later."

"Ok" Colin answered and hung up.

Jane almost flung herself at Finn. "Where have you been?"

"Sorry, but like I said, some things just came up…"

"What things?"

"Jane, I really don't want to talk about it now, okay? I had a really long night…"

"Finley, you can't just brush me off, I was worried sick. Tell me what happened. Does it have something to do with the woman that was late to the party?"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, your friend Colin sort of suggested that you used to have a thing for her in college."

Finn felt like smacking Colin silly at that moment, but also knew he had to come clean with Jane, well, almost clean. He had no intentions of telling her about his little sidestep with Rory.

"Yeah, well wasn't that nice of him. Could you please sit down?"

He motioned to the bed in the hotel room and they sat down together.

"I have a son!"

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. A four-year-old son. I found out yesterday at the party, that's why I left."

"With this woman?"

Finn nodded. "Her name is Rory. We had a one night stand back in college, and when I left she found out she was pregnant, but never told me."

"Finley that's awful" Jane said, stroking his back. "Have you met him?"

"Yeah, I have. I actually met him in the park a couple of days ago, but I didn't know then. And I went to Rory's apartment this morning to see him. His name is Daniel."

"And you are sure that you are the father?" Finn shot her a dirty look that made Jane cringe a little. "I'm sorry, but how well do you know her? She could be in it for the money."

"Rory is not that type of girl. She doesn't sleep around and she doesn't blackmail rich guys. I met the kid, there is no way I'm not the father. He looks exactly like me."

"Oh. Well, what is the plan then?"

"I don't know. I want to be a part of his life, but I don't know how to."

"We'll figure something out, I promise, Finley."

Jane felt awkward. This wasn't exactly how she had pictured having a family. She wanted her and Finley (she refused to call him Finn like his stupid friends did) to have their own children, without interference from some old lover or whatever she was. And to be quite frank, Jane wasn't all that sure about the whole paternity thing, at least not until she got to see this child for herself.

She looked at her engagement ring. She and Finley had been together for three years and she was head over heels in love with him. He was everything she wanted and she was already planning their life together, hopefully on a farm outside Sydney with five kids. She would stay at home with them and Finley would run his dad's company. Somehow she didn't really imagine his child with another woman being apart of this fantasy.

* * *

Very short, I know. I'll try to do better next time. But please leave a review, because they fuel me and inspire me to write more.

Thanks


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Dead on arrival**

"Hey Steph" Rory answered her phone.

"Tell me everything!"

"About?"

"Don't play coy with me, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore! I know your dirty secret!"

Rory sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"Please, like I didn't already know. The kid just needs an accent and a beer, then he'd be a dead ringer for his old man. Who by the stopped by a few minutes ago to yell some more at Colin."

"No?"

"Oh yes! They're going at it in the office right now" Stephanie said. "So spill, have you talked?"

"Yeah a little. I'm supposed to call him later and arrange something so we can figure it out."

"Yeah good luck with that. He seems really upset."

Rory sighed and sat down at her kitchen table. "I feel so bad, Steph. I never meant to hurt him, I just couldn't bring myself to call him. And I know that's not an excuse…"

"Relax Gilmore, I'm not mad at you. And I think I understand; Finn was not exactly stabile back then. But you should give him a chance now, he deserves that."

"I know" Rory said.

"So, what are you planning in regards to your fun talk?"

"I don't know. Him coming over was a really bad idea, I think there needs to be people around."

Stephanie gasped on the other end. "Rory Gilmore, did you do something scandalous? You do know he's getting married in like a month or something?"

"Yeah everyone keeps reminding me of that. I was thinking maybe a restaurant or something like that."

"Need help with your outfit?"

Rory made a face. She wasn't in the mood for hurricane Steph to come over, but on the other hand, she still couldn't dress herself when it came to things like this. "Maybe… I'll call you when I've talked to Finn."

"Could you call him now? It sounds like he's about to throw Colin out the window and I don't want to look stupid standing next to no one at the alter, when I'm getting married."

"Yeah sure, Steph" Rory said and hung up. She took a deep breath and started to dial the unfamiliar number that Colin had scribbled down on a piece of paper for her.

"Hello?"

"Finn?"

"Rory?"

"Yeah… I just wanted to talk about maybe meeting and discussing an arrangement for Daniel and you?"

"Oh yeah, sure." He sounded flustered and Rory wondered if he had actually tried to throw Colin out the window.

"Any preferences" Rory asked.

"No, I'm not really familiar with New York, I only know the lobby of my hotel and it's not really that great."

"Oh well, there's a couple of nice places around here…"

"Why don't we just meet in Stars Hollow? I'm sure Daniel would like to see his grandparents and you could probably use some time with your mother anyway."

Rory nodded to herself. She would like that, she felt safe in Stars Hollow and if things went south, she could call upon her mom to offer her strength and support. Finn still knew her, apparently. "Thanks Finn."

"It's fine, love. Send me an address and I'll meet you there tomorrow at noon, yeah?"

"Okay, see you" Rory said and hung up. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or agitated. She should probably call her mom. And Dean, but she didn't feel like talking to any of them right now. She would have to do it later.

* * *

"So Rory's meeting a guy here" Luke asked confused.

"Not just a guy, _the _guy_"_ Lorelai said with a big hand gesture.

"And he is?"

"Daniel's father!"

"Did you just say Daniel's father" miss Patty interrupted them.

"Yeah, Rory is meeting him here" Lorelai said.

"Oh dear, that's a show I'm not missing. That child is just so handsome, wonder what the father looks like" miss Patty said in a dreamy voice.

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. He wondered how it was always his diner that had to be the scene of all the drama in Stars Hollow. "So he's just gonna walk into her life again after all these years and what? Demand to see Daniel?"

"Luke, to be fair, it was Rory who decided not to tell him. I think it's only right she at least try to explain that and make some sort of arrangement concerning Daniel" Lorelai said. She still didn't condone Rory's actions, but she also hoped that this either would give Rory a little closure regarding her feelings for Finn or maybe they could work something out? Lorelai smiled at the idea. She liked Finn, a lot, even though she hadn't even had a real conversation with him, and she was a romantic at heart.

"I still don't like it" muttered Luke, who was unable to ever view Rory as the bad guy.

"I can't wait to see him. I should call Babette" miss Patty said and left for the door.

"Please don't turn this into a show" Lorelai yelled after her, but to late. "Maybe I shouldn't have said something?"

Luke shook his head. This was going to be interesting.

Around noon miss Patty and Babette rolled into the diner, ordered their usuals and sat down at the window, waiting for the show to start. Luke had also noticed that Taylor had been sweeping the same length of pavement for about half an hour. Apparently everyone wanted to see Daniel's mysterious father.

And like it was timed out perfectly, not too long after miss Patty and Babette had ordered, a black Aston Martin slowly rolled by the windows. Even Luke did a double take. "That's him" he whispered to Lorelai. It wasn't exactly everyday a car like that visited Stars Hollow.

"I think so" she whispered back. "Nice car."

"It's not that Logan person, is it" Luke asked. He wasn't sure what to do if it was him.

"No thank god" Lorelai said in an exasperated voice just as the doorbell rang and Rory entered the diner.

"Finn's parking the car" she said, as her mom gave her look. She, in turn, noticed miss Patty and Babette and sent Lorelai and angry glare. "You told them" she whispered.

"It slipped my tongue. Sorry."

Rory didn't answer, as Finn stepped into the diner and a sort of awed hush fell over the room. Miss Patty looked like she might have a heart attack. Rory met him halfway and they sat down at a table in the corner; Rory furiously trying to ignore all the people staring at them and Finn acting nonchalant about the whole situation.

"Thanks for coming" she mumbled. "We can order, if you'd like?"

"No it's fine, I had an early lunch with Jane" Finn said.

Rory closed her eyes briefly. She would have to get used to that name, and fast! Worst case scenario, she would become Daniel's stepmother. "Oh, okay…" Rory smiled nervously, fighting her nausea. She was so nervous she was afraid to pick up her glass because her hands were shaking. Finn was not mean or one to carry a grudge, but she could understand if he wanted to take some kind of legal action on the matter.

"Where is Daniel?"

"My friend Lane is watching him. She has twins that are about a year older, they usually get in trouble together" Rory answered.

Finn just nodded and suddenly looked up. Rory did the same and jumped a little; miss Patty had managed to sneak up on them and she was now standing very close to Finn, smiling like a shark. "I just wanted to come over and make my introduction" she started. "It's not everyday such a fine specimen visits our humble town."

Finn gave Rory a look that clearly stated that he had no idea what she was talking about. As she gently touched his shoulder, he seemed to catch on. "Oh me? Right…"

"And an accent too? Pray tell, young man, where are you from?"

"Australia" Finn answered, suddenly also looking a little nervous.

"Miss Patty, if you don't mind, we just need to figure some things out. Maybe we can come by the studio with Daniel later?"

"Please do, Rory. You know how I appreciate" she looked Finn up and down, "visitors…"

When she was out of hearing range, Finn exhaled. "Is she…? All there?"

This made Rory smile a little. "She just really likes men... All men."

"Should I be worried?"

"No, just don't let her sneak up on you and do not accept any kind of drink she's made." Finn nodded. "How long are you staying? In America, I mean."

"Well, I only planned to stay until Steph and Colin's wedding, but I figured… Maybe I could stay a little longer, spend some time with Daniel." At Rory's obviously relaxed look, Finn chuckled a little. "I wasn't planning on kidnapping him to Australia."

"Oh I know" Rory said with a nervous laugh. "So um… Five years. How've you been?"

"Been busy, taking care of things at home. I met Jane through work, actually."

"Really" Rory said and tried to fake her interest interest with a fake smile.

"Yeah, she's an interior decorator. She worked on one of the hotels in Sydney and well, we met and I asked her out. Are you seeing anyone?"

"Nothing serious" Rory said, not really into comparing Finn's happy engagement to her extremely casual hook-ups with an old boyfriend. "So this is kinda awkward, huh?"

Finn made a face. "Yeah…"

"I'm really sorry, about everything. I was so afraid how you would react and I didn't want to force you into something and the whole thing with your dad…"

"Rory stop. I'm not saying what you did was ok, but I understand, I guess. I was not exactly reliable back then, but I've changed and I think I deserve a chance to catch up."

Rory nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'll try to stretch my stay here. Spend some time with David…"

"Steph said you're getting married in a month or so?"

"Two months, actually. Jane is the mastermind behind the event, I doubt I'll be missed much. We still have a couple of branches in the states, I'll try to be here as much as possible."

"Finn, that's not really a solution" Rory pointed out. He would probably spend most of his time on planes getting too and from places.

"I doubt you'd be interested in moving to Australia?"

"Not really, sorry."

"Then this is the best solution, in my opinion. I can't leave Australia, the company's there and Jane's family. I spent a good ten years of my life alienating my family and getting completely smashed, and with my dad being sick… I just can't leave right now."

"I understand that. We'll make it work. And I'll talk with Daniel tonight, try to explain things."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"No! I think it was scandalous enough I had a child out of wedlock" Rory said with a face. "But I'm sure Logan's mom is gonna love this one."

"Oh I bet, Shira was always quite fond of you, right" Finn said with a smile. "How are your grandparents gonna react?"

"Probably with silence and lots of vodka. It's the Gilmore way. I was wondering… Did you ever tell Logan?"

"No, didn't really see the point. Haven't actually talked much with him since then."

"Oh… This is going to be so much fun" Rory said in a sarcastic tone.

* * *

**A/N: I'm very well aware that this is long overdue and I apologize. I'm not sure if I should continue the story after all this time, and I fully understand if people have given up hope and abandoned it. Just let me know. And again, so sorry**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Calm before the storm**

"So how was the talk" Lorelai asked. Rory and Finn had left the diner after about an hour and Lorelai had returned to the Inn.

"It was ok. Pretty awkward, but I think that was to be expected."

Lorelai nodded. "Tell me everything."

"There's really not much to tell. I promised to talk to Daniel and Finn would extent his stay here so they could spend some time."

"And that's it?"

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know… Just more, I guess" Lorelai said.

"He's getting married in two months, mom" Rory pointed out. Lorelai wasn't the only one who was disappointed; even though it was her own damn fault, Rory still felt the sting of rejection.

"What's the plan now?"

"I'm not to sure, talk to Daniel and let them spend time together" Rory said and excused herself as her phone rang.

"Ready for tomorrow?"

"Steph?"

"Of course, silly. So are you?"

"What?""Ready for tomorrow night?"

Rory looked at her mother, like she somehow knew what Steph was talking about. "Um…?"

"Oh my god, you've forgotten? Rory come on! It's only the biggest event of the year."

Rory wracked her brain. "You're not getting married until Saturday…"

"It's my bachelorette party, moron!"

"Oh! Yeah no, I remember. Super" Rory said, trying to muster some excitement.

"You're such a liar. We're starting at eight at MuMu, so don't be late. And wear something really sexy."

"Sure Steph" Rory said and hung up. How did she end up being friends with people who bossed her around constantly? She thought it was bizarre that Paris and Stephanie hated each other, because seriously, they had almost identical personalities.

"Steph" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, she wanted to remind me about her bachelorette party tomorrow night."

"Which you had completely forgotten?"

"Totally. But I have a lot of things going on right now. And that's not even including work, which I'm also like ridiculously behind on. And now Steph wants me to wear something sexy."

"Are there going to be strippers? Because, you know, you could just stay home and work and I'll go to the party" Lorelai offered with a big smile.

"What about Luke?"

"Oh he'd never know…"

"Yeah yeah. I'll go home and raid your closet for something sexy before I pick up Daniel."

"You heading back to New York already? I thought you and Finn would stay a little."

"His fiancée called him and he had to go back. Why are you laughing?"

"Just the way you say it… _Fiancée_, like it was a dirty word." Rory glared at her mother. "I'm sorry, but it's funny…. Why don't you just tell him how you feel?"

"Because he's getting married in two months!"

"So? Maybe he'll change his mind?"

"Yeah, maybe if this was a Disney movie" Rory pointed out. "I think I've screwed his life up for more than lifetime, I don't think I should make it any worse by trying to ruin his marriage before it even begins."

"Honey, you have to either tell him or just… Get over him. What about Dean?" Lorelai cringed a little at this, she didn't exactly think that was a match made in heaven, but even he was better than Rory sitting at home, pining away for a married man (again!).

"What about him? It's just all very casual and safe. He wants to watch sport and I wanna talk about books and work… Same old same old."

"Gee you make it sound so romantic" Lorelai mocked. "Why are you two even together, if it's just like before?"

Rory shrugged. She honestly wasn't even sure herself. They had just met one day and started talking, exchanged number and gone from there… He was still the same old Dean and in a way she was still the same old Rory, just with a kid this time. And Dean had been nice about Daniel, taking him to soccer practise a couple of times and stuff like that, but somehow Rory just knew it wasn't going anywhere. But being a complete safety-addict, it was difficult for her to break it off.

"It's… nice…"

"Way to talk it up, Rory. Maybe you should take Stephanie's advice and wear something sexy tomorrow. You might meet someone?"

"Like a stripper?"

"It beats staring at the TV all night with Dean while having lust-filled thoughts about Finn…"

"Mom! I do not have lust-filled thought about Finn" Rory said in a hushed tone.

"Then why are you blushing right now?"

"Because you're embarrassing me!"

"Are you sure it's not because all you can think about is that hot australien…"

"Mom please" Rory almost yelled and hid her face between her hands. "This is so embarrassing!"

Lorelai almost jumped up and down with glee. "I knew it! But I don't blame you, he's very good looking. Much better than Dean and Logan. Logan was always too… blonde…"

"Mom stop! I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Come on Rory, it's fun…." Lorelai kept pestering her.

"I'm so happy my pathetic love-life is able to provide you entertainment" Rory mumbled.

* * *

Later that evening, when she and Daniel had returned to their apartment, Rory had set up her computer and was waiting for her old friend to come online.

"Rory!"

Rory, who had dozed off while waiting for Paris, almost jumped at her friends sharp tone. "Sorry Paris, must have dozed off. It's been a weird day…"

"How so?"

"Talked to Finn."

"You're kidding?"

"I wish…" Rory continued to fill in Paris of the events of the last couple of days.

"You've been busy, huh" Paris said. "So have you told Daniel?"

"Yeah we talked a little in the car. He seems okay with it all, although he thinks Finn talks weird."

"Well he does" Paris noted. "How was it seeing him again?"

"Weird! He looks the same, just sober. And he's getting married."

"Yeah I know."

"What? How do you know?"

"My parents know his parents, blah blah blah" Paris said. "And apparently Finn's mother is not exactly crazy about his choice in women. And don't think I don't see that smile, Gilmore. Do you have feelings for him?"

"No of course not" Rory lied.

"You're still a horrible liar, I see. Have you met her?"

"Jane? No, not officially. Saw her with him at a party, she looks just like his type, thin and redheaded."

"I heard she's dumb as a rock" Paris offered.

"Are you lying?"

"Yes…"

Rory smiled. "Thanks, though." It really meant a lot to her that Paris made an effort to cheer her up, especially considering Paris' lack of social skills. "I'm sure she's nice, otherwise he wouldn't be marrying her. He's changed a lot, I think."

"Well I should hope so, he drank like a sponge back then" Paris said. "So, you really have feelings for him?"

"I think so, yeah. But it's so stupid, I mean it's been five years and all I need is one smile and I'm completely hung up on the guy.""

Again!"

"Excuse me?"

"Please, Gilmore. You were making puppy eyes at him even before Logan left for London. You were just too much of a coward to own up to it. Now's your chance…"

"I'm not going to ruin his impending marriage!

""You ruined Dean's" Paris pointed out.

"So I should just continue ruining marriages?"

"Look, it's not like he's married yet, right? So he's fair game. And you have a history and he told you he was in love with you."

"Five years ago, he told me he was in love with me. Now he's getting married to someone else in two months."

"So you better hurry" Paris advised.

"How are you doing in Washington, Paris" Rory asked, trying to change the topic.

"Oh it's fine, everything's fine. My new professor is fine…"

"Paris… Not again?"

"I can't help it. He's all tall and silver-fox like and dangerous…"

"Dangerous?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"He drives a Mustang convertible" Paris said, like it was the most awesome thing in the world.

"Right… Well just… Just be careful, okay Paris? I don't want you to get hurt again, like with professor Fleming."

"Asher was really old. Magnus is at least two years younger…"

Rory rolled her eyes at Paris' excited tone. "Two years? Wow. Well I'm happy that you're happy. Are you coming to the bachelorette party tomorrow?"

"God no… I doubt I'll be going to the wedding" Paris said. "I really don't understand why you like Stephanie…"

"And I don't understand why you don't."

"Probably because she's a total snob, a complete socialite…"

"And she stole Nathan from you? Are you ever going to forgive her for that?"

"NO! Rory, he was the love of my life and that blonde maneater just stole him for fun…"

"Paris, you went on two dates, I hardly think that qualifies him as the love of your life."

"He might have been and now we'll never know!"

"Well I'm going."

"You certainly sound excited."

"I think Finn's fiancée is going too… I don't know, I just feel weird about everything right now. Soon everyone's gonna know about Daniel and Finn, and people… They're going to look at me, judge me, talk about me behind my back…"

"Who cares? All those people have done far worse things than you. I could write a book about Shira Huntzberger alone. So just keep your head high, ok? You're better than most of them anyway."

Rory sighed. "I can handle that they talk about me, I can just stay away. But this is going to crush my grandparents. I haven't even told them yet."

"I'm sure in a matter of no time your dear friend Stephanie will be pregnant and no one will care about Daniel's heritage" Paris reasoned. "Or just wait for the next scandal to rock the social scene."

"Great, you got any idea when that will be?"

"Well, I've hard that Vanessa Miller is releasing a sex tape soon…."

That made Rory laugh. "Thanks Paris. I should probably get to bed soon, it's going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll see you soon" Paris promised and logged off.

Rory sighed. How her life had gone from that of a mildly boring single parent to the equivalent of a day time soap opera she had no idea, but it made her head hurt. There were still so many loose ends, like telling her grandparents, telling Dean, telling Logan…. The list felt endless. She decided that maybe Steph and her mom was right, she should just put on something sexy and go out and have fun tomorrow, despite Jane might being there too…

* * *

**A/N: So I think the generel consensus was that I should continue the story, which I'm happy to do. And huge thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, faved, ect... It really means a lot to me. Next chapter Rory will face the redheaded demon also known as Jane. Wonder how that will go down.  
Also, I remebered I used to do this silly thing 'quote of the week' and I was wondering if I should bring that back? Let me know**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you all so much for all the lovely reviews, faves and alerts. It just completely blows me away! And please keep it up, as I have developed a serious (and probably unhealthy) addiction to reviews. I'm glad that people have been so forgiving of the huge pause in the story.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Don't you know who I think I am**

Rory was having a crisis when her mother called. She had already looked through her closet three times and changed outfit at least ten times and she had to leave the apartment in the next twenty minutes, unless she wanted to face the wrath of Stephanie - and she really didn't. Luckily Sally had turned up an hour earlier and was now planted on the couch with Daniel, watching 'Finding Nemo'.

"This is hopeless" Rory sighed and sat down.

"I'm sure there is something in there you could wear" Lorelai offered over the phone.

"It's hopeless" Rory repeated. "Nothing feels right."

"How about that pink dress we bought together last month?"

"No…"

"Okay, what about the black dress I gave for your birthday?"

"No…""Rory" Lorelai warned.

"I'm not going!"

"Yes you are!"

"No. _She_ is going to be there and no doubt looking fabulous. I'm staying home, eating Ben & Jerry's and watching 'Finding Nemo' with Daniel and Sally."

"Rory please don't be like this… Your acting like such a loser…." Luckily the doorbell prevented Rory from hearing the rest of her mother's tirade and she excused herself quickly and hung up.

"Hello Gilmore."

"Oh my god, Paris, what are you doing here?"

"You sounded so pathetic yesterday, so I thought I'd stop by an offer some support. Are you gonna let me in" Paris asked. Rory had been standing dumbfounded in the doorway, just staring at Paris.

"Oh right, sorry. Yeah, come in. What's in the bag."

"Early Christmas present" Paris said, leading the way to Rory's bedroom. She swept the disregarded clothes from the bed away and put the bags down. "I figured you were having a complete crisis by now, so I brought you something. Now, I may dress like a seventy year old, but I know someone who's great at shopping and she found this" Paris held up a short white, one-sleeved dress "for you."

"I can't wear that" Rory protested.

"Sure you can." Paris looked her up and down. "Now, are you gonna do this the easy way" she took a step closer to Rory, "or am I gonna have to help you?"

Ten minutes later, Rory had wrested herself into the skintight dress and was now putting the finishing touches on her makeup. Paris was wearing a loose-fitted deep purple dress with a silver belt and at Rory's questioning look, she shrugged. "If I'm gonna crash someone's bachelorette-party I might as well look nice doing it. You ready?"

"I feel like throwing up."

"That sounds like a yes. Let's get going."

Their cab pulled up to the restaurant three minutes to eight and Rory and Paris exited the vehicle, Rory immediately spotted Stephanie, who was dressed like a princess; pink dress, tiara and lots of glitter. "Rory" she screamed with excitement, then spotting Paris. "And you bulldog. Are you crashing my party?"

"Yes" was Paris answer, before she entered the restaurant.

Rory gave Stephanie and apologetic look. "I just couldn't do it alone. I'm sorry."

"Fiiiiiine" Stephanie said in an annoyed voice. "She can stay, but she better behave!"

"Don't worry, she's housetrained. Is um…"

"Jane is not here yet" Stephanie supplied. Rory just smiled at her and entered the restaurant.

She had barely found her seat next to Rory, before Jane entered as well. Rory nudged Paris and gestured towards her. She looked absolutely stunning, with loose red curls and an emerald green halter-neck dress. It made Rory want her to fall and break her neck. Stephanie entered a moment later with a huge grin plastered on her face. "Everybody here? Great, let the drunken debauchery begin!"

An hour and a half later most of the party was already tipsy, with Stephanie taking the lead. Rory had tried to just converse with Paris and not attract any attention, but as people were starting to get ready to move to the next place, Rory found herself cornered.

"Lorelai, was it?"

Rory turned around and found herself face to face with Jane, who seemed embarrassingly sober compared to the rest of the party. "Rory's fine."

"I understand you share some history with Finley…"

"I don't know what he told you…"

"I know about Daniel. And if Finley is the father, he shall of course accept full responsibility and we will both embrace Daniel with open arms. But I want you to understand something: I love him with all my heart and we're getting married soon and I need you to understand that what we have is real. So please don't come between us." Jane took a deep breath. "I don't know you and honestly I don't care to know you. I think what you have done is despicable and unforgivable, but Finley still care about you. So I am asking you, _nicely, _to stay away from my man!"

Rory was speechless. "I… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say."

"Say you'll stay away! We are building a life, in Australia, and I don't want you to ruin that" Jane said. She hadn't even raised her voice once, the whole conversation (or monologue, really) had been in a completely calm and quiet tone. "I understand that Finley will be wanting to spend time with Daniel, but that doesn't have to include you. Please respect that." Before Rory could even response, Jane had turned on her high heels and walked away.

"What the hell happened" Paris whispered, as she noticed Rory standing alone, looking a little like a fish with open mouth and an empty expression on her face,

"Jane sort of did a drive by, I think" Rory said, still staring at the place Jane had been standing a moment earlier.

"What did she say?"

"Rory what just happened? Jane has just excused herself and left" Stephanie said, grabbing hold of Paris in order not to keel over.

"She kinda told me to stay away from Finn" Rory said. "And she was strangely polite about it."

Paris and Stephanie shared a look. "Are you alright?" Paris gave the sudden smile on Rory's lips a worried look. "What?"

"He still cares about me."

Stephanie, who was on a serious diet in order to fit into her wedding dress, had decreed there would be no desert tonight, just a lot of booze and instead of stuffing their face with fat, they started a night of bar-hopping. After visiting four different bars and three clubs, Stephanie finally found a place that lived up to her standards and they found a table and ordered their drinks. It was the perfect combination of seedy bar and cool club and it kinda reminded Rory of some of the places they used to hang out when they all went to Yale.

Rory of course soon discovered why Stephanie wanted to stay here. Because it was a Thursday night the place wasn't overcrowded and the dance floor completely devoid of people. It didn't take Stephanie long before she was dragging people onto the floor, yelling at the DJ to turn up the music.

"She's completely drunk" Paris said, as she sat down next to Rory and watched Stephanie shake her stuff around on the dance floor with two other blondes.

"I think we all are" Rory said with a big smile. She herself hadn't exactly gone easy on the liquor either. It had provided her with a nice buzz and definitely clouded her judgement. "We should dance."

"You dance, I'll just sit here and judge" Paris said.

"Noooooo, come on Paris, I want to dance" Rory begged.

"You're pathetic, Gilmore" Paris said, but relented and they moved to the dance-floor along with some of the other partygoers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rory knew her feet were going to be murder the following day, along with a blinding headache, but it didn't matter right now; she was much to happy to even think about that.

After a long stay on the dance-floor they all started to move back to the tables. Stephanie seemed like she was having an amazing time, as she drunkenly stood up and raised her glass. "Okay, shh… I want to thank you all for coming out to celebrate my last few moments of freedom. In two days I'll hand over the keys to this kingdom" she gestured to herself, "to that moron Colin and I shall never drink again." Everyone laughed at this, as they all knew that was a downright lie. Stephanie was a notorious party animal. "So, thank you to you all for making this last night so special that I probably won't remember anything in the morning. Thank you to Rory who is my maid of honour and hasn't interfered once with the planning of the wedding. Thank you to my mother for staying away. Thank you to Paris Gellar for crashing my party. And… Colin?" Everyone turned their heads in the same direction as Stephanie's and indeed, Colin was standing in the door. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hello ladies" Colin drunkenly greeted them. "We just thought we would stop by."

"Yeah, the strippers Logan hired were absolutely rubbish" a guy complained, sounding just as drunk as Colin.

"And Robert has already slept with three of them" Finn said. "So we came here, because Stephanie gives the best performances anyways."

"Bite your tongue" Stephanie said and glared at Finn. "That's a thing of the past!"

"Anyways, we're crashing" Logan said with a silly smile.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I think I should probably just explain a few things. I started this story over two years ago and I had a very set direction for where I wanted it to go. Then my muse ran away (probably screaming) and I forgot all about it for a long time. When I got back to it, I had completely forgotten where I wanted the story to go, and because I'd gotten a new computer as well, I didn't have any of the original chapters anymore, including the storyline. Which is why I today have no idea why I brought Dean back… He won't feature very much in the rest of the story, in fact I doubt he'll have any lines at all.  
****I really am sorry if the story sometimes seems to be going in different directions, it feels like I've started it all over again, but I figured it was better to try and complete the story than just letting it sit there, unfinished. I hope you will all be understanding, and if not, then I understand that.

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Chapter 10: Pretty in punk

"Oh my god, this must be so awkward for you" Stephanie said in a stage-whisper, as the club filled up with Colin's bachelor-party.

"Yeah, thanks Steph" Rory muttered and took the shot Paris offered her.

"You want to leave" Paris asked her.

"I think I'll just stay here for now. Too many familiar faces in the bar" Rory said, trying discreetly to move backwards in her seat and hide behind a very buxom blonde.

"Oh my god" Paris suddenly whispered and leaned forward to get a better look at the bar.

"What? Paris, what?" Rory fought the urge to lean over too.

"It's Tristan DuGrey!"

"What?" Several heads turned to look at Rory, including some from the bar. She felt herself blush and hurriedly fell leaned back in her seat again. "What the hell is Tristan doing here?"

"Drinking, by the looks of it" Paris supplied. "Hey monkey-girl, how do you know Tristan Dugrey?"

Stephanie, who amazingly actually responded to the nickname, gave them a drunken smile. "He went to boarding school with Colin and Logan and I think he know Finn from somewhere as well… Hey Tristan" she called out.

"Mary? Is that you?"

Rory closed her eyes for a second and willed the earth to open up and swallow her. "Oh wow, Tristan. Hi…"

"And Paris Gellar. Never thought I'd see the two of you again."

"Must be your lucky day" Paris mumbled, not even bothering to get up and greet him properly like Stephanie did.

Tristan sat down next to Stephanie. "So, how you've been? Both of you."

"Fine" Rory and Paris answered in unison.

"Okay wow, one at a time" Tristan said.

"Oh they're both super, isn't that right girls" Stephanie said. "Paris here is busy being a total bore somewhere else and Rory is trying to patch things up with her baby daddy!"

"Baby daddy?"

Paris snorted at the choice of words, while Rory quickly gulped down the rest of one of her many drinks. "Yeah, um… I have a kid, Daniel… He's five."

"So I guess I should stop calling you Mary, huh? Who's the lucky guy?"

"Just a guy" Rory answered and felt like hitting Paris, as she started to cough up her beer.

"Come on Rory, is it someone I know? Is there an illegitimate Huntsberger baby running around somewhere" Tristan probed.

"No! No, definitely not!" Rory picked up one of Paris' shots and downed it, ignoring Paris' "hey". "No Huntzberger baby!"

"So, you work for your father now, is that right" Paris asked in her usually all-business like tone.

"Yeah, it's not so bad. Not great either, I mean, my boss is kind of a jerk, but I get by."

"How wonderful for you" Paris noted. "Rory works for the Times now."

"Really? That's pretty great. What do you write about?"

"Local politics, mostly. City stuff…" Rory tried to be evasive and not break into hives. "Stephanie said you know Colin and Logan from boarding school?"

"Yeah, well not really. Logan did a brief stint in the military school I was enrolled at and our families know each other. After I graduated, I spent a couple of months in Fiji with Finn."

"Really?" This caught Rory's interest. She barely knew anything about Finn and any and all new information was appreciated.

"Yeah Finn was a total surf-bum back then, isn't that right?"

Rory almost fell out of her seat when she noticed Finn standing behind her. She really needed to talk to him about sneaking up on her, it was freaking her out. "A handsome surf-bum" he said and sat down next to Rory. "I see you brought your flying monkey." Paris gave him a glare.

"You surf" Rory asked.

"Born and bred in Sydney, Australia, love. Of course I do!"

"Right, of course" Rory mumbled, trying not to breathe in his intoxicating smell.

"How do you know Rory" Finn asked Tristan and took a swig of Rory's beer.

"We went to Chilton together, isn't that right, Mary? She broke my heart!"

"You called her Mary?"

"Because she looked like a virgin" Tristan said with a smirk.

Finn snorted into the beer and Rory. "Of course she did."

"Come on, Finn. Rory was a good girl before she met you" Stephanie said.

"Definitely. And add to that the uniform" Tristan said with a creepy smile.

"There was a uniform" Finn asked.

Rory wondered why the world was such a cruel place. "Yeah, remember your birthday?" At Finn's raised eyebrow, Rory smiled. "Of course you don't, but I wore my uniform. I was dressed as Go-Go."

"And if I'm not mistaken you looked very lovely, although leaving with Butch Coolidge might have been a mistake" Colin said, as he sat down on the other side of Stephanie. "Hello my lovely bride to be."

"Nuh-uh, I'm still mad. You're totally crashing my party!"

"But we got bored" Colin pleaded.

"And the strippers really were bad" Tristan said.

"The good news is that Robert is well on his way to fulfil his lifeplan" Finn said. "I'm gonna go get some drinks."

Stephanie gave Finn's retreating form a look. "What the hell was that?"

"He's mad at me" Colin said. "He's been ignoring me all night."

"Colin I'm so sorry" Rory said in a small tone. She felt so bad for coming between them.

"He'll come around, eventually. I once, accidentally, set his car on fire and he forgave me for that."

"Hardly the same" Paris said.

"It was an Aston Martin Vantage. He cried for days" Colin countered.

"What happened" Tristan asked and it was like the four of them came out of their bubble and realized that they weren't alone.

"Tristan, I want to dance" Stephanie almost yelled and dragged him out onto the dance floor.

Rory sighed. "He's really mad at you?"

"Yes apparently you not telling him is fine, but me… Not so much."

"Colin I really am sorry. I never meant for this to come between you, I'll talk to him, I promise!"

"Relax Gilmore. Like I said, he'll come around, eventually. Finn doesn't know how to hold a grudge. Anyways, I better go make sure Stephanie doesn't try to set up Tristan with some of her horrible friends."

"Now I feel really bad" Rory told Paris, as Colin left their table.

"Don't. It was his choice not to tell his friend, it's not like you twisted his arm or anything like that."

"You think I should go talk to Finn?"

"Definitely, but not about Colin."

"I don't exactly this is the time and place to pour out my heart to him."

"Trust me, it'll be easier drunk and if it all goes wrong, you can blame the booze."

"Great…" Rory was just about to get up, as Colin stumbled onto the stage.

"Excuse me, could everyone just please shut up, as I'm about to give a very important and emotional toast" he said with a goofy smile. "As I'm sure my lovely bride will be getting all the attention this Saturday, I would like to propose a toast for the other love of my life, the light in my darkest hour, the Art to my Paul, the Lindsay to my Samantha! Finn Morgan!" Colin raised his glass and saluted Finn. Rory noticed that Finn, who was standing in the bar, tensed and stared at his drink. "I wanted to do this because I truly am sorry for what I did and I feel the only way to truly express my undying and unwavering love for him, is through a song of my own choosing." Colin gestured to the DJ.

"This sounds interesting" Paris said. Rory looked at Finn again, he was still staring at his drink.

"Travelling in a fried-out combie, on a hippie trail, head full of zombies…" People started to clap and cheer as they recognized the all too familiar tune. "I met a strange lady, she made me nervous. She took me in and made me breakfast. And she said: Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover."

Colin downed his drink and started the second verse. Rory noted several people singing along, and she had to admit, the song was catchy. After the second chorus Colin started to dance, at least that's what it looked like, and finally Finn relented and joined Colin on the stage. He grabbed the microphone and started the third voice: "Lying in a den in Bombay, with a slack jaw and not much to say. I said to the man, are you trying to temp me, because I come from the land of plenty? And he said: Oh! Do you come from a land down under? Where women glow and men plunder? Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover!"

"Take it off" Stephanie screamed as she waved around a couple of dollar bills. Colin started to unbutton his shirt, which only made Stephanie laugh. "Not you, idiot" she yelled. "The hot one!"

The song ended and Colin and Finn received a standing ovation and several dollar bills were thrown at them. "Thank you, Colin, for that most inspirational display of affection" Finn said with a smile. "And I suppose I should be honest with you as well: I slept with Stephanie the first year of Yale." He handed the microphone to Colin and walked off the stage.

A weird silence fell over the club. "Did you know this" Paris whispered.

"No!" Rory sought out Stephanie on the dance floor, she looked just as surprised as Colin.

"Guess Finn knows how to hold a grudge after all" Paris said to no one in particular.

Rory found Stephanie crying in the ladies room. "Steph, are you okay?"

"Do I look okay" she almost screamed at Rory.

Rory wasn't sure what the proper form of addressing a question like that was, so she opted to gently pat Stephanie on the back. "You didn't tell Colin?"

"Of course not. I was so embarrassed. It was a stupid mistake, it didn't mean anything."

"What happened?"

Stephanie wiped away a tear. "It was after this stupid party and I was so in love with Colin and he wouldn't even give me the time of the day, so… I don't know, Finn was there and a lot of booze and he'd just broken up with his girlfriend. It just happened."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Why didn't you tell Logan you slept with Finn? Because it's hurtful! God I'm such a stupid slut."

"Steph no, come on, you're not. It was just a mistake, Colin will understand" Rory said.

"God sometimes I really hate Finn. He can be such a dick!"

"I think he's just hurt right now…"

"So he has to spoil my wedding? You know how hard I worked for this? How long it took me to finally get Colin's attention? And now he's ruined all that because he's a little bitch!"

Rory tried to be reasonable: "I hardly think he's ruined everything…"

Stephanie, however, didn't seem to listen, as she abruptly stood up and walked out of the bathroom. Rory nervously followed, afraid what she might do. "You, weird guy, where is Finn" Stephanie asked a guy in a threatening voice.

"Outside" he said, looking a little afraid of Stephanie, not that Rory could blame him.

Stephanie, with Rory in two, found Finn outside, and the first thing she did was to push him hard. "What the hell is your problem, you spoiled little bitch?"

"Shut the fuck up" he spat at her.

"Why the fuck are you ruining my night?"

"Oh like you're so special? You think it's the first time Colin's had my sloppy seconds?"

"I'm gonna ignore that right now and just hit you" Stephanie growled and slapped him. "God, you're such an egomaniac! Not everything is about you! Instead of pissing all over your friendship with Colin, why don't you think about why Rory opted not to tell you in the first place, huh? Because you were a fucking drunk dick back then" Stephanie yelled.

"Why don't you just mind your own goddamn business? You've been doing it so well for the last five years" Finn yelled back at her. He furiously searched his inner pockets and fished out a pack of cigarettes.

"Smoking again? Real classy" Stephanie spat. "Does Jane allow that?"

"Stephanie, go to hell!"

Rory had probably never felt more awkward than this moment. A dinner with the Huntzberger's were pleasant compared to this.

"Is that why you're trying to ruin my wedding? Because your own is gonna suck" Stephanie continued to taunt him. "Heard not even your mummy likes her!"

"I could always go in there and find your husband to be and tell him you slept with Logan too…"

"I didn't sleep with Logan" Stephanie screamed.

"No? That's not what I heard. And considering, who do you think Colin's going to believe? Me, his best friend or the slut who neglected to tell him that she slept with said best friend…"

Stephanie crossed her arms and smirked. "I'll tell Jane you slept with Rory! And then I'll call People and every media outlet in Australia and tell them about your illegitimate lovechild! And the time you got arrested!"

"Tell me, who rules Hell when you're up here?"

"Don't mess with me Morgan, I will hurt you" Stephanie said in a low tone. She narrowed her eyes at Finn. "I really don't care about your shitious little engagement, if you try to come between me and Colin ever again, I'm gonna make you my bitch!"

"What's going on?" All three turned at the sound of Colin's question. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He looked at Finn.

"Wrong with me? Oh I'm sorry, did I forget to tell you something important?" Finn lit another cigarette. "Fuck you Colin, I fucking thought you were my friend."

"Look, I said I was sorry…"

"This isn't my fucking car, you mongrel! You can't just say sorry and make this go away!" Finn sighed. "I really hate you right now, both of you. And it would be nice if you could just respect me enough to at least let me have that."

"It wasn't their fault" Rory suddenly interjected. Not really sure why she was throwing herself into the fight, she couldn't just stand idle by and watch him take it out on Stephanie and Colin. "I never told them. Colin guessed it the other day… And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. For what I did to you and to Daniel. You didn't deserve that, but I was scared! And I thought it would be easier that way."

"Well is it? Easier, I mean? Do you think this is easier this way?" Finn gave her a pointed look.

"No. I was young and stupid. But what would you have done? You were dealing with your own things in Australia, wouldn't it have hurt more to know and not be there than simply not to know?"

"Please don't try to justify this" Finn suddenly sneered at her. "It cheapens you!"

"Keys" Stephanie suddenly said, holding out her hand.

"What?"

"Give me your keys, you're not driving like this." Finn didn't respond. "Give me the keys" Stephanie demanded. Finn finally handed them over. "I'll have someone drive you home, if you want?"

"I really don't care! I just want to get drunk" was Finn's response.

"How mature of you" Colin snarked. "You find out you're a father and your first instinct is to get hammered."

"What are you gonna do, call my mummy" Finn bated.

"I could call Ryder" Colin countered.

"Yes but then you'd have to explain why I was standing outside a club drinking… And then she would be mad at you, not me" Finn pointed out.

"Just tell me how long we have to endure old Finn" Stephanie said.

"A little while longer, I think" Finn said with a thoughtful expression. "See you inside."

Rory felt like her head had just been in a washing machine. "I am really confused right now. And who's Ryder?"

"Ryder is Finn's sister. His twin sister, actually" Stephanie said. "And I think it's best to just let him get drunk right now, he'll cool off eventually." Rory just nodded. "Could you give me and Colin a couple of minutes?"

"Oh yeah sure, I'll just go inside too" Rory said and left.

"I think we should go" Rory said, as she found Paris in the bar.

"What happened?"

"Finn just sort of blew up in the parking lot and now he's getting drunk. Colin and Steph are outside, talking things over, I think."¨

"For someone as shy as you, you cause a lot of drama" Paris pointed out. "A lot!"

"Paris, shut up and just come with me."

"Not going somewhere, are you" Logan asked. "The party's just getting started."

"Actually, the party is ending for me" Rory said and tried to sidestep him. She was definitely not in the mood for him right now.

"Come now, love. I think you at least owe me to have a beer and a dance…"

Rory sighed. "You need to stop sneaking up on me, Finn!"

"But you look so fun when I do" he said with a smirk.

"Are all Australians idiots, or are you just extra special" Paris asked.

"I'm extra special." He turned to Rory. "So, about that beer?"

"Fine, one beer."

"How is it that when I ask you just roll your eyes at me and when he asks it's fine" Logan asked. "That hardly seems fair.""Maybe she just likes me better? Can't blame her for that, I'm smarter and prettier than you" Finn said. "Come on, Rory, let's get drunk and do things we'll regret in the morning!" He put his arm around her and downed another shot.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, alerting, favouring and most certainly your reviews. I really appreciate that you take the time to comment on this. You guys are so amazingly awesome and I just want to hug you all (really, I do, because I have readers from really cool places that I would love to visit!)  
****If you have questions ideas, pointers, advice, etc., please don't hesitate and let me know. Btw. I was wondering if someone knew Stephanie's last name? I don't know if the show ever provided her with one. If not, maybe someone out there has a great idea for one?**


	11. Chapter 11

**I decided to bring back 'quote of the week', simply because it's so fun finding the quotes.**

**Brittany: It's that most of us don't know how to bake. I find recipes confusing.  
**- From Glee. I really love Brittany.

This little gem is from Lamebook, which is like my new favourite hang-out place: **It recently became apparent to me that the letters 'T' and 'G' are far too close together on a keyboard. This is why I'll never be ending an important email with the phrase "regards" ever again.

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**Chapter 11: A little less 16 candles a little more touch me**

Rory woke up with a start and almost fell out of the bed. She looked around, breathing a sigh of relief upon discovering she was in fact in her very own bedroom. That also seemed to be the only good thing about the situation, as it felt like her head had been turned into a construction site. Pathetically she crawled out of bed and into the bathroom, resting her head on the cool toilet. The first memory flash hit her, as she closed her eyes: She was dirty dancing with Paris on a table while Stephanie was throwing money at them.

"Oh god" she mumbled, before emptying her stomach. "So undignified." Her phone started to ring, but she decided to ignore it. Not matter what, it could wait and honestly she wasn't interested in talking to anyone. She closed her eyes again, desperately trying to ignore her ringing phone; whoever it was, they weren't giving up easy. She finally admitted defeat, as the phone started ringing for the sixth time.

"Hello?"

"Aggressive much?"

"Mom, stop calling me" Rory mumbled into the phone and hung up, only to have the phone start ringing again five seconds later. "You're killing me!"

"Which means that you are actually alive! Good!"

"What's so important?"

"Did you have fun last night?"

"I don't know, what's this about" Rory groggily demanded.

"Well, it looks like you had fun."

"What?"

"Yeah, on the internet, in the pictures of you and Finn, kissing… It looks fun."

Rory closed her eyes and silently prayed this was some kind of sick and twisted joke. "Please don't joke about this."

"Oh I'm not! And guess who's not joking either? Your grandmother, who has been calling me non-stop since seven thirty!"

"Oh god…"

"Rory, what the hell happened last night? I said fun, not adulterous debauchery."

"I know, things just got out of hand. There's pictures?"

"Yeah like a dozen from the party and two of you and Finn making out. It's rated-r stuff, Rory. What the hell where you thinking, people are gonna see this, your grandparents are gonna see this. Finn's fiancée is gonna see this!"

"I know, I just…. I didn't know someone was taking pictures."

Lorelai sighed on the other end. "Rory honey, this is bad. You have a lot of explaining to do and Finn's fiancée has every right to be mad at you."

"She already was. I met her last night."

"Really? How was she?"

"Cold. Like serious Antarctic cold. And strangely polite. It was weird."

"Whatever happened, I doubt she deserves this. Have you talked to him?"

"I honestly have no idea, I just woke up ten minutes ago and I can't remember much."

"What about Paris or Stephanie?"

"I doubt Stephanie remembers much either, Finn made this stupid remark and she and Colin got into a fight."

"Sounds like I missed out on a great party" Lorelai said. "I talked to Sally earlier, I'll pick up Daniel, so we'll see each other later and talk." The last word was emphasized and Rory knew her mother would want an explanation. "In the meantime I'll try to do some damage control with that darling grandmother of yours. I would bolt the door shut if I was you, she might just turn up and demand an explanation."

"Great, just what I need. Have you talked to her?"

"No she left me a message asking why you were kissing an engaged man."

Rory sighed. "It's like my life has turned into 'Days of our lives' or something."

"Please, your life is way more interesting" Lorelai interjected. "I'll try to stall the Wicked Witch of the West for now, but don't expect a miracle."

"If it gets too hard you can always land a house on her."

"Well there is that option, I suppose" Lorelai said. "You should probably do some damage control of your own. I'll see you later, ok?"

Rory hung up and collapsed on her bed. It felt like her whole world was about to blow up. She tried to ignore the pounding headache as she dialled the now familiar number and waited.

"This really isn't a good time" Finn greeted her, as sounds of things breaking echoed behind him.

"What's going on" Rory asked, as someone screamed something in the background. "I wanted to…"

"Yeah, love, not now. Why don't you come over in a hour or so, we'll talk?"

Rory was just about to reply, but Finn had already hung up, so she decided to just take a shower and swallow a bottle of painkillers before going to his hotel.

Rory felt anxious as she stood outside the hotel room, trying to find the courage to knock. "Come on Rory" she whispered and knocked on the door. Finn opened it almost immediately and she stepped inside the room. "What happened?" The room was completely trashed.

"Hurricane Jane blew through here earlier. It was quite the show" Finn said in a tired voice and sat down in the messed up couch.

"She saw the pictures?"

"Love, I think everyone has seen those" a female voice said in a mocking tone.

Rory turned around and saw a beautiful blonde woman standing in the doorway between the mainroom and the bedroom. She suddenly felt like violently throwing up. He was with another woman, another one, other than her? What the hell was going on?

Finn closed his eyes and sighed. "Ry, not now."

"Why not Finny? I wanted to see the little home wrecker." She gave Rory a big smile.

Finn stood up and fumbled with his backpocket. "Why don't you go max out my credit card while I talk to Rory like a grownup?" He handed the woman, Ryder, his wallet.

She took it with a fake expression of shock. "Are you implying that Jane hasn't already done that? Shocking."

"Go, now!" With a final smirk at Rory, she sauntered out of the hotel room.

"You're with another woman" Rory whispered in an angry tone. "Some blonde bimbo?"

"Love, I'd appreciate you not calling my sister a bimbo" Finn said, sitting down again. He obviously didn't care that the hotel room looked like one of the Balkan countries in the mid-nineties.

"Oh…. Sorry" Rory said, sitting down as well. "I didn't know. She doesn't look like you."

"She dyes her hair" Finn said. "I guess you want to talk about last night?"

"Yeah… About that, I didn't know about…"

Finn held up his hand. "It's fine love, I didn't either."

"Are you in big trouble?"

He chuckled a little. "I think the wedding is postponed indefinitely, if that's what you mean?" He sighed. "I really messed it up, but somehow I just can't seem to stay away from you."

"I'm so sorry…"

"Would you stop saying that?" He rolled his eyes. "People are gonna start thinking you raped me or something. It doesn't matter, if I can't even control myself in your presence I obviously shouldn't be getting married."

"Just like that, that's it?"

"No of course that's not it" he said in an exasperated voice. "But obviously I have some issues in relations to you that I need to address. And I think the whole thing with Daniel just threw Jane a curvevball…"

"She was pretty honest last night, about it" Rory said, feeling a little uncomfortable. How many relationships did she have to ruin before she had enough?

"I can only imagine, but I didn't expect her to embrace this with open arms, that's not who she is and I have to respect that. But I am sorry if she was rude to you."

"I think I understand" Rory said in a small tone. "So last night, huh?"

"You don't remember anything, do you?"

"Not a thing!"

He laughed at her. "It was fun, definitely. I like that you're still a screamer!"

Rory's jaw hit the floor. "Did you seriously just say that? I can't believe you!"

"Relax, we didn't have sex, although you begged me to take you in the bathroom stall!"

"I though you said we were supposed to talk like grownups" Rory said, while trying to fight her blushing.

"You mean to say this isn't how grownups talk?" He made a face. "Imagine that…"

"That was really your sister, huh?"

"Oh yeah, Ryder in all her bitchy glory. Deep down, archaeological deep down, she's a good person, she's just a bit protective of me."

"Is she the oldest?"

"No, but she likes to act like it." He sighed. "When I was younger, I was a bit of a mess and Ryder spent a lot of time trying to fix me."

"Because of your brother?" At Finn's raised eyebrow, Rory shamefully looked at the floor. "Colin told me something happened, I didn't mean to pry… And you should really think about forgiving him, he never meant to hurt you."

"You know what happened?" Rory shook her head. "He got drunk and crashed his car into a tree. Dead on arrival, I guess. I had a little downfall after that. Colin needs to learn when to speak and when to shut up… I'll forgive, him, eventually…"

"Still going to the wedding?"

"Yes, I know so many embarrassing things about both of them, it seems a shame to waste that" he said with a small smile.

Rory nodded, suddenly feeling awkward. She didn't know what was going on between them, were they friends, just people who coincidently had a child together, what? She needed a definition. "About last night… What does it mean, between you and me, what are we?"

"I don't know, love. You broke my poor heart five years ago and me and Jane… I love her, but I think I still have feelings for you, however stupid that might be." He smiled at her. "I'm a pathetic sap."

"I'm sorry…"

"Maybe you should leave, love? I think I need some time to figure all this out, including a really good story for the maid."

Rory nodded. "Sure, I guess I'll just see you at the rehearsal dinner or something?"

"Or something" he said non-committally and opened the door for her.

Rory was deep in her own thoughts as she was leaving the hotel and therefore didn't notice someone stepping out in front of her. "Leaving so soon?"

She looked up and saw Finn's sister, Ryder. "Finn wanted some time" she said in a timid tone. Something about Ryder was just scary, she was nothing like her brother, who was a warm and fun person.

"Of course he did. I realize I was a bit brass up there. Why don't we go out to lunch and talk things over" Ryder suggested.

"Oh, um… Sure, okay" Rory stammered.

"Great, I'll just go change, wait for me here" she said and left.

"Sure, I'll just… wait" Rory said and sat down. She decided she might as well just call Stephanie and ask if she and Colin were still together. "Hey, it's Rory."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I just wanted to know if there's still a wedding going on tomorrow?"

"We're fine, did you forget?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm actually sitting in the lobby of Finn's hotel."

"Really, why?"

"Long story, I'll tell you tonight. Did you know his sister is here?"

"Ryder or Idina?"

"Ryder. I'm going to lunch with her."

There was a moments silence over the line. "Oh… Rory, listen, just be careful, okay?"

Rory made a face. "Why?"

"Ryder is… Well, she gives the term 'bitch' a completely new meaning, okay? She's horrible!"

"She was a little rude, but I wouldn't call her horrible" Rory defended.

"Trust me, she makes Shira Huntzberger look nice! She's super protective of Finn and she's a lawyer, which means she isn't afraid to threaten people either…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, Colin once had to go up against her in court. He came home crying! So just watch out for yourself, okay" Stephanie warned.

"Yeah, sure… Wow, I didn't expect that, I mean, she's Finn's twin…"

"I know, I didn't either, when I met her the first time. Maybe she's changed, I don't know. Maybe you should bring Paris? Or a bodyguard?"

"I'm sure she's not…" Someone cleared their throat behind her. "Oh, hi Ryder, you ready?"

"Tell Stephanie I say hi" Ryder said with a false smile. "You ready?"

"Yeah sure, what did you have in mind?"

"Why don't we just stay here, they have a nice restaurant" Ryder asked, but obviously it wasn't really a question and Rory just followed her into the hotel's restaurant, where they were seated immediately.

"So, Stephanie said you're a lawyer?"

"I am. It comes in handy when people files lawsuits against the company, or say, claim to have born my brother's lovechild…" Rory took a deep breath. Stephanie definitely wasn't lying about the bitch-part. "You're a Gilmore, so it's not money that you want… So what is it?"

"I don't want anything."

"Obviously you want something, everyone does, and if you didn't, you wouldn't have told Finn about Daniel" Ryder said and lit up a cigarette.

"I felt guilty and I want Daniel to know his father."

"Admirable. Maybe it would have been better to tell him five years ago, but hey… Better than nothing, I suppose…"

"Miss, there is no smoking here" a waiter gently interrupted.

"Check the name of the hotel; I think you'll find that there's a new smoking section right here, for the owner of said hotel" Ryder said without looking at the waiter. He nervously bit his lip but didn't say anymore and quickly left their table.

Rory wasn't sure what to say, but luckily Ryder definitely was. "How well do you know my brother?"

"We went to Yale together" Rory said.

"I know that, you used to date Logan Huntzberger. I was just wondering if you knew about his past?"

"Um, Colin told me about your brother and Finn mentioned a little bit upstairs" Rory said, feeling unsure of herself.

"What did he say?"

"That your brother was driving while intoxicated and that he hit a tree. He died…"

Ryder blew out a huff of smoke. "Finn probably forgot to mention that he was sitting in the car with Charlie when the car crashed. He does that sometimes. He was in a coma for three weeks, we didn't know if he was going to survive. After that he went off the deep end, drinking and partying like some sick version of Paris Hilton. My parents finally had enough when he was seventeen and cut him off. I had to support him until he was forced to return home after he graduated. And even then he wouldn't move back with the family, he got an apartment in Sydney and worked for six months until he could afford a plane ticket for him and Jessica to Fiji."

Rory was completely shocked by the information. She had no idea Finn had been involved in the car crash that killed his brother. "I didn't know…"

"Finn doesn't like to talk about it. Our mother was very torn up about it. Her eldest son killed himself and almost killed her youngest son as well. It was hard for her, to accept that and not be angry at Charlie. Finn, on the other hand, he idolized Charlie, he was like a hero for Finn. And mum's resentment towards Charlie drove them apart. You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this?"

"A bit, yeah…"

"Finn might be the eldest, but he's delicate. He's not very strong emotionally, and something like this, you and Daniel, it could easily throw him off course and turn him into the stupid wanker he was back then ago and I don't want that. Finn has worked hard to get where he is today and I'm not gonna let some little American society tart ruin that. So if you're not serious about this, about my brother and about Daniel being a part of his life, you need to back off now!"

"I'm serious" Rory said, meeting Ryder's steel gaze.

She nodded. "Good…" She put out her cigarette. "He still have feelings for you, you know?"

Rory blushed a little. "Yeah…"

"You like him?"

"He's getting married."

"So? Answer the question."

"Yeah, I do, but I don't know if it's just old feelings or deeper."

"You better figure it out, because he's gonna leave that Tasmanian devil for you if you don't stop it" Ryder said bluntly. "Not that it will be a total loss, I can't stand the was she calls him Finley like he's some sixty-year old investment banker with a heart problem and a parrot-fetisch." Rory just stared at her. "That doesn't mean I like you either, but I love my brother and I want him to be happy. Now, tell me about the kid. I bet he has a ton of bad habits!"

**A/N: I have recently had some newfound inspiration: there's reruns of Gilmore Girls on almost every night and that's definitely helping. I just started school again (uni sucks) so updates might be slow, but I'll do my very best. And seriously guys (girls?), you are like the most awesome people ever! I love the reviews and if I could send you all cupcakes I would - and I make some damn good cupcakes! I don't have enough positive words to describe how much you all mean to me; that you take time from your busy day and actually sit down and read something I've written, it just means so much, especially when you review. So thank you! Oh and please keep it up, thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: My heart is the worst kind of weapon**

Rory left her "lunch" with an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Finn's sister was… Scary, if not downright mean. Stephanie definitely hadn't been lying. Rory hadn't even dared to order anything in fear off Ryder might poisoning her food! Their meeting had ended with Ryder presenting Rory with legal papers, she just happened to be carrying around, saying that Rory would grant Finn full visitations rights and that they would work out a schedule for the holidays and when Daniel could visit Finn in Australia. It had made Rory's head spin just thinking about it.

It didn't help her aching headache that she had to stop by work on her way home, where her mother would surely be waiting for her. She hadn't been spending very much time with Daniel this week, which was making her feel guilty, but she would just have to make up for that the next week, when she wasn't dealing with hangovers and Finn's evil twin sister and Stephanie's wedding and her feelings for Finn… By the time Rory made it to her work, she was seriously regretting even getting up that morning.

"OMG Rory you dirty minx" Lisa, one of Rory's colleagues (and not her favourite) said with a wicked smile.

Rory just gave her weak smile and continued towards her own floor. In the elevator several people gave her weird looks and she was starting to feel really uncomfortable. By the time she reached her own floor she was blushing. "Caroline, what is going on" she whispered, as she met one of the colleagues she got on with.

"Oh, yeah… Um, this is really embarrassing, but Lisa saw the pictures on the net of you and that guy, Finn Morgan, and she sent them around the whole office. And um… George is kinda upset, because he's been trying to an interview with him, and now he thinks it's a no-go" Caroline explained. "What happened, how do you even know the guy? Isn't he like the Australian Paris Hilton?"

"I went to Yale with him, some of our mutual friends are getting married tomorrow. It was just a stupid mistake" Rory said. "Have everyone seen the pictures?"

Caroline nodded. "I'm sorry, Rory. George wants to see you and be warned, the dark lord is in there too."

"Mitchum Huntzberger" Rory asked, suddenly feeling a little faint.

"Yeah… Good luck."

Rory swallowed and nodded, she would need that. She took a deep breath and knocked on George's door, before entering. "You wanted to see me" she said in a small tone.

"Yes, please sit down" George said and Rory noted that he sounded a little nervous as well. Maybe it had something to do with the tall figure standing with his back to them, looking out the window. She almost felt like snorting at the cliché-like pose he struck.

"What's this about?"

"I think you already know, Miss Gilmore" Mitchum said and turned around. "I trust that you are well?"

Rory didn't answer the question, she just gave George a look. "Obviously we can't tell you how to handle your personal life, Rory, but you must understand that this reflects badly on us" he said. "I've been trying to land an interview with him ever since I found out he's in the city and this…" George sighed. "His lawyer has already contacted all the major media outlets, banning them from publishing the pictures, they're being removed from the Internet as we speak."

Rory was pretty impressed by that; Ryder must be the most efficient woman in the world. "If they're being removed and not published in our paper, I don't see the problem" Rory argued feebly. She really wanted to keep her job, but getting scolded by your boss, in front of the über-boss, because you got drunk at a private party was definitely not her idea of fun.

"Rory, we all know Finn has had some trouble in the past" Mitchum started, and again she had to refrain from snorting. Yeah, Finn had a pretty wild past, but there was a reason for that. She wondered how Mitchum explained his own son's troubled past. "It's likely he will return to Australia because of this and then we haven't gotten the interview."

"Couldn't you just have Logan ask him" Rory asked. It kinda made sense, Finn and Logan were friends, Finn would probably do the interview if Logan asked.

"Both Logan and I have talked to Finn, well actually, I had the great misfortune of talking to that endearing sister of his, but the answer was the same; he doesn't want to" Mitchum said.

Rory briefly imagined how a conversation between Mitchum and Ryder would have looked like, she almost hoped Ryder had made him cry. "Oh, well… Then that's it, I suppose."

"Are you good friends with Finn" Mitchum asked, and a smile crept up his face and made him resemble a shark again,

Rory shrugged. "It's not like we have sleepovers and braid each other's hair" she muttered. "If he said no to Logan, he's gonna say no to me."

Both George and Mitchum seemed to mull that over. "Well, next time you see him, bring it up, try to persuade him. He seems to like you" Mitchum said, still smiling, and left the office.

Rory and George were left staring at each other. "Something you want to tell me, Rory" George asked with a knowing look. "I promise it won't leave this room."

Rory thought it over. Should she tell George the truth, maybe just some of it? "I um… had kinda a thing with Finn, back at Yale. I think we just got carried away last night. He's engaged, so…"

George just nodded. "You're off the hook until Tuesday, then I want that story about the councilmen."

Rory nodded and left the office, hoping her legs wouldn't suddenly turn to jelly from all the stress and tension.

* * *

"Miss Vanderbildt, Mr. Morgan is here to see you" one of Stephanie's mother's many maids announced.

"Hey Finn, what are you doing here" Stephanie asked.

"Needed to clear my head a bit, love. What are you doing?"

Stephanie looked at the cakes in front of her. "Eating…"

"You haven't ordered your wedding cake yet? You do know you're getting married tomorrow, right" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow. He was by no means an expert on weddings, but he was pretty sure Jane had already ordered theirs. They might need to cancel that now, he thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"No, we have, but because I couldn't decide I ordered three. And I meant to decide sooner, but there always seemed to get something in the way" Stephanie complained. "Help me?"

"Sure" Finn said and sat down. He took a bite of the first cake. "Pretty good, but then again, I do like chocolate."

"If I got something on my dress my mom would take me out back and shoot me" Stephanie said. "You had fun last night? Saw the pictures…"

Finn sighed. "Who hasn't? Ryder is working on getting them removed right now."

Stephanie gave him an uneasy smile. "That sister of yours, such a busy bee, huh?"

"You do know Colin's allergic to coconut, right?" Finn eyed the second cake.

"Oh… I knew that…" Stephanie gave the cake a look. "How allergic?"

"Love, he's gonna swell up like a giant Colin sized balloon."

"Right, no coconut cake, got it" she said. "So, is there still gonna be a wedding in Sydney in three months?"

Finn sighed and rubbed his eyes. Hangovers and very important emotional talks really didn't mesh well. "I don't think so. She's really mad at me, as she should be."

Stephanie shrugged. "And if she forgives you?"

"I'll probably still have feelings for Rory" Finn admitted.

"Do you want to marry Jane?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to be with Rory?"

"I don't know."

"This really sucks" Stephanie said and Finn definitely had to agree with her on that. "Have some more cake." They sat in silence for a little while, eating cake, until Stephanie couldn't contain herself anymore. "I don't think you should marry Jane!"

"And why is that?"

She sighed. "Because, Finn, she's just not the right one for you. And I'm not saying Rory is, but Jane? She's even more uptight than my mom, she calls you Finley, she doesn't surf, she hates being in the States, she doesn't understand that you have demons and that you'll probably always have them. And I don't think she'll ever be able to truly accept Daniel as a part of your life."

"I don't drink anymore" Finn mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed. He knew he had been out of control while attending Yale, his parents had tried to force him into rehab and counselling several times, but he had been too proud and too stupid to acknowledge that he had a problem. His father's sudden illness had been the breaking point and he had forced himself to change his life drastically.

"I know Finn, and I think it was amazing that you turned your life around on your own, but…" Stephanie wasn't sure how to say this without hurting him. "What happened to you when you were 16, the drinking, the partying… It doesn't just go away because you want it to. And I know you got completely trashed last night. And I don't think Jane can handle you when you're down. Rory can."

"You make it sound like I belong in a special home" Finn muttered.

"You know I love you, that's why I'm telling you this. Jane needs a boring husband whose idea of fun is scrabble! And you're anything but boring, Finn. And you deserve to be happy too, you deserve something great in your life! When was the last time you took out Jessica?"

"Hey guys, what are you doing" Colin asked.

"No, you can't see me" Stephanie yelled and shot up from her chair, holding her own eyes, like that would hide her from Colin, who looked a little concerned. "It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!"

"Honey, you're wearing pink snoopy pants and a the Grateful Dead t-shirt. Unless you're planning on wearing that tomorrow, I think we're fine" Colin reasoned.

"Still" Stephanie yelled. "I already have my mother working against me, I don't need anymore bad luck." She promptly fled the room after that.

"You're a very lucky man, McRea" Finn said.

"Did you bring over cakes to freak her out? She hasn't eaten anything in two weeks" Colin said, taking Stephanie's seat.

"No, she hasn't decided on the cake yet."

"She did that last week, she probably just forgot. We're going with the chocolate-strawberry one. So, what are you doing here?"

"Just out for a walk, I'll be going now. I need to talk to Jane anyway" Finn said and stood up. "I guess I'll be seeing you tonight at the rehearsal dinner?"

"Which reminds me, my mother kindly asked me to ask you to not mention that incident in Thailand."

"Which means your mother will have me shot on sight if I talk about how you got arrested with a ladyboy" Finn snickered.

"I agree with my mother on this" Colin said coldly. "It's seven, don't be late, Steph is already freaking out."

"She's marrying you, I would be freaked out too" Finn yelled over his shoulder.

When Finn arrived back at his hotel room, Jane was sitting in the living room. "We need to talk."

Finn just nodded and gingerly sat down. He wasn't sure what to expect.

"Ryder is out threatening people with lawsuits" Jane answered Finn's unasked question. "I want to know why you kissed her."

"I can't tell you" Finn said. "I don't know why I did it."

"Are you gonna keep seeing her?"

"I have to, because of Daniel."

"Did you have feelings for her, when you went to Yale together?"

"Yes. I was in love with her."

"Are you still?"

"I don't know…"

"And what about me?"

"I love you, you know that. But… Rory is always going to be in my life now…"

"Yes, she's certainly made sure of that" Jane said in a sour tone.

"Jane, please don't bitch about this."

"You expect me to make friends with some woman who you apparently still have feelings for? How is that fair? I love you and I want to make a life with you and you're ruining everything right now."

"I'm sorry" he said in a small tone. "I wish I could tell you that it was over between me and Rory, that I'd never do this again and we'd be happy, but I can't."

Jane wiped away a tear. "It's not fair, what you're doing. You have to decide. If you choose me, I'll forgive you and this will be a thing of the past. Daniel can come and stay with us whenever he wants, but I don't ever want to see her ever again! And you'll only see her in regards to Daniel."

Finn nodded. It was only fair.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, this got out kinda late. I've been really sick and then a friend borrowed me the Sookie Stackhouse books and I got kinda hooked on them and read three books in like three days. I'm sorry I neglected you all, I promise to be quicker with the next chapter (unless this evil flu kills me). A million thanks for the reviews, alerts and faves, I really really love them all and I hope you keep them coming.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Still alive. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. Thanks for reviews and well-wishes, they made me feel almost as warm as the tea I was drowning my flu in.**

**Orionsbabydoll: Obviously they are gonna see each other. Or is someone out there really rooting for Jane in this one? I'm not sure the interview is so important for the story, it's more like a way to give Finn and Rory a little time together and get to know each other. They probably need that. Also I felt Mitchum deserved a little screentime.**

**Curley-Q: Thanks so much for the well-wishes. Yes, flu really sucks and it's almost like you can't get rid of it. I hope you feel better too.**

**Summer2391: I agree with Stephanie too (obviously). I hope this update was fast enough for you.**

**Papaslittlecj: I actually wasn't that excited about reading the books (a friend forced me), but boy am I glad I did. They are AWESOME! Just finished book number five and I can't wait to start the next one.**

**MaryBBlove23: Thanks so much.**

**Roseinthegarden: I know there hasn't been that much yet, I'm working on it. Hope you'll stay tuned.**

**To everyone else who reads, please do review. It makes the writing experience even better!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends**

"So this rehearsal dinner, how bad is it gonna be" Lorelai asked. She was sitting on Rory's bed while Daniel watched 'Finding Nemo' yet again.

"I'm thinking pretty bad. Jane is going to be there, which will be both humiliating and embarrassing, and then there's Logan, who's gonna want to know why I was making out with Finn like a sexcrazed teenager, which will be awkward. And Stephanie's mom, who hates me. Tristan is still calling me Mary, Finn won't look at me and I have to ask him to do this interview thing…"

Lorelai held up her hand to try and stop her daughter's ramblings. "Hold up, interview?"

"Yeah, I looked into it. Finn is like a Forbes guy and apparently he never gives interviews…"

"So?"

"So my boss for some reason really wants an interview and Mitchum thinks Finn will do it because he "likes me" or something" Rory said, using air quotes. She really wasn't too sure she could have a conversation about how Finn felt about her. Everything was just a complete mess right now. "Oh, and I met his sister today!"

"Yeah? How was she?"

"Like evil in solid form!"

"Really? I thought Finn was really easygoing?"

"Yeah, he's definitely the easygoing of the two of them. She's seriously scary, nothing like him. I didn't even know she was his sister before he told me. How is this?" Rory held up a black cocktail dress in front of her.

"Kinda boring, but since it's a rehearsal dinner I'm sure it'll fit right in" Lorelai said. "So you didn't get along with the sister?"

"I don't really know, I don't think she actually gets along with anyone. She gave me these, though." Rory handed her mother the legal papers Ryder had given her. "Somehow, I don't think anyone's ever said no to her. Stephanie told me she once made Colin cry!"

"No?"

"Yes!"

"I would love to see her and Emily together."

"I think she could make Trix cry" Rory said.

Lorelai looked impressed. "She certainly sounds like fun."

"Yeah it was a real hoot" Rory mumbled while getting her dress fixed. "I asked Steph not to seat me anywhere near the Limo boys. It'll just be me and Paris and Stephanie's grandparents."

"Better keep an eye out for Paris, I hear she likes them old" Lorelai snickered.

"Mom that is not fun! She's trying to seduce another professor now, it's like she's the black widow or something! Why can't she just find someone from the same century as herself?"

"Life would be boring without a little Paris-crazy" Lorelai said with a smile. "You ready to face the wolves?"

"Why are you insulting the wolves? This is so much worse. What are your plans for tonight?"

"Well, me Daniel and Nemo are gonna swing by your grandparents and try not to talk about you and the hot Australian, who is apparently very very rich. And tomorrow I'm gonna parade Daniel around the town and definitely talk about the hot Australian, who is very very rich. We'll probably watch 'Finding Nemo' again after that."

"You're gonna give Babette a heart attack, you do know that, right?"

"And miss Patty! I even googled some pictures of the hot Australian" Lorelai said.

"He does have a name, you know?"

"Yeah, but hot Australian sounds way better than Finn."

Rory just raised an eyebrow at that. "How do I look?"

"Like you're going to a funeral."

"Great."

* * *

"Is it me, or is there a faint trace of the word 'Dick' written across Tristan's forehead" Rory asked, as she and Paris sat down at their table at the rehearsal dinner.

"It only seems right" Paris replied dryly. "You look like you're gonna throw up."

"I'm fine" Rory said in a loud whisper.

"Finn isn't here yet."

"So? I don't care" Rory said in a tone that clearly indicated she did.

"Hey Rory, Paris" Colin greeted them. "Just a fair warning: Stephanie's mom decided to bring her new um… friend, Javier, tonight and Steph is a little on edge about it. So just go along with whatever she says." They both just nodded. "Oh and Rory, Finn is bringing Ryder as his plus one instead of Jane."

Rory wasn't sure what was worse. At least Jane would be too proper to confront her at a party, she doubted Ryder would have any problems hurling a vase through the room if she felt like it. "Oh… How nice… Why?" Tiny drops of sweat made their way down her back.

"I'm not sure, but apparently Jane booked a flight back home a couple of hours ago."

"What? What happened?" She instantly felt like hitting herself, _she _happened_!_

Colin also looked extremely uncomfortable suddenly. "Maybe you should talk to Finn? Just keep it down, I really don't want anything to stress Steph further."

Paris looked over her shoulder. "She looks fine."

"I slipped her something" Colin confessed.

"Seriously?" Rory looked at Stephanie, who was giggling lazily at something a darkhaired young man was telling her. "Oh my god, Colin, she looks stoned!"

"Yeah, on second hand, taking pills from Robert was probably a bad idea, but she wouldn't shut up about the cake and the dress and Italian Stallion and I just figured… What the hell?"

"She's hitting on her mother's escort" Paris noted with an eye roll and Colin almost ran from the table. "Those two deserve each other."

Rory managed to get through dinner without further incidents. Paris had been kind enough to inform her, that when Finn wasn't busy staring at her like a lovesick puppy, his sister had been glaring holes in the back of her head. Rory was hoping she would be able to just sit through desert and the last couple of events without any troubles and then go home and sleep. She desperately needed sleep!

Unfortunately her luck ran out just before deserts. Paris had spotted someone she knew from prep school or something and had left Rory with Stephanie's paternal grandparents, who were perhaps older than sin and more boring than a trip to the dentist. She had almost dozed off as someone sat down in Paris' seat. "Hi there Ace."

Rory fought to stop the groan that made its way up as she gave Logan a strained smile. "Oh hello Logan."

"So… I saw your picture on the net today."

"Imagine that."

"Yeah, I was just a bit shocked, because it didn't seem like Finn even knew who you were in Yale and suddenly you're dry humping each other."

"We weren't… that! Things just got out of hand" Rory mumbled, wondering why the hole in the earth never appeared and swallowed her when she wanted it to.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"What would that be?"

"I don't know, maybe that you and Finn know each other better than you let on?"

"Are you seriously asking me that? We broke up like five years ago and you cheated on me with your sister's entire wedding party."

"Yeah but none of them were your best friend_. _So tell me, is there something I should know?"

"You look ridiculous in turtlenecks" an accented voice set behind them and Rory was actually glad to see Ryder. "Now, evaporate, woodland creature, I need to talk to Rory."

Logan looked completely pissed off but somehow did as Ryder ordered anyway. She took his place and made a funny face at his retreating form. "Honestly, that guy is just a wanker. Did you know he once tried to get me drunk so he could sleep with me?"

"No… What happened?"

"I got drunk and slept with him" Ryder said and took a sip of Rory's champagne. "So, having fun?"

"Not really."

"Yeah me neither. At least Jane went back to the motherland."

Rory wasn't sure how to ask about that and settled for a somewhat awkward "oh really?"

"Yeah, she asked Finn to choose and I guess she didn't like his decision. I doubt she'll be missed. So, when are you making your move?""My move?"Ryder rolled her eyes. "Please, it's obvious you want him."

Rory thanked whatever god was in control of interruptions, as Paris made herself present. "You're in my seat."

"So" Ryder countered.

"Move."

"No."

If it hadn't been so weird, Rory would have laughed. Paris and Ryder were two peas in a pot, both definitely not used to hearing the word no or not getting their way. Paris scowled at Ryder. "I think I saw Logan Huntzberger at the bar, why don't you go hit on him? He seems like your type."

Ryder leaned back in the chair with a smirk. "Make me…"

"Are you serious? Get your ass out of my chair or I'll move it myself" Paris threatened.

Ryder opened her mouth and Rory was pretty sure this was going to end in something like a wrestling match, and decided to intervene. "Paris, I need some air, why don't we go outside for a little while?"

Paris scowled at Ryder, who smirked in return, but followed Rory outside. "That bitch deserves a smack down!"

Rory was just about to ask how Paris had even heard of the word "smack down" when Finn appeared next to her. "Great you could join us, love." He looked at Paris. "Even if you brought Mr. Hyde here."

Rory turned and saw Stephanie, Colin and Logan sitting outside as well. They had apparently reverted to their old tricks and formed a sub-party. "My mom and dad are fighting" Stephanie said with an eye roll.

"Join us, Ace" Logan said, although it sounded a bit forced.

She sat down next to Stephanie and although it was freezing outside, she didn't really mind. It was almost nostalgic, sitting here with them. Tristan showed up a moment later and joined them as well.

"Finn that sister of yours…" Tristan whistled.

"Don't even go there, mate" Finn replied in a solemn manner.

"I'm telling you, it's not a word" Logan said in a loud voice.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "They've been having this discussion the last hour!"

"It's a word" Colin insisted.

"Fine, use it in a sentence" Finn challenged.

"Alright… Tomorrow night, I'm gonna 'farphelkügel" Stephanie" Colin said.

"Ew" was the bride to be's reaction.

"It's not a word" Logan and Finn said in unison.

"I'm telling you, it's a word. It's not my fault you two are idiots!"

"Oh we're the idiots? You're making up words" Finn said.

"Yeah I'm not paying you, unless you find that in a dictionary. And it has to be for the English language. No cheating and finding it in a German one" Logan said.

"Aha, so you're admitting it could be a word!"

"A German word, maybe" Finn exclaimed. "That wasn't the bet. You're such a twat, Colin."

"Hey, what did we talk about with the foreign swear-words" Colin countered.

"So Ace, heard you talked to my dad today" Logan suddenly said and Rory had the distinct feeling this was "change the topic unexpectedly" day today.

"Yeah, briefly." She took a deep breath. "He wanted me to do something for him."

"He usually wants that, yes… What?"

"An interview… With Finn."

"Not gonna happen" Finn said.

"Yeah, I already tried" Logan said. "Twice!"

"Finn doesn't give interviews, he's way to important for demeaning things such as that" Stephanie said in a mocking tone.

"People should know who I am" Finn said.

"Now that's some skewered logic, man" Tristan objected. "How are they gonna know who you are, if you never give interviews?"

"He's right about that" Stephanie agreed. Tristan blew her kiss which she caught with a loving expression on her face.

Finn seemed to think about that. "Fine, ten minutes, starting now. Go."

"What? But I'm not prepared" Rory objected

"Times a-ticking" Finn said with a grin.

"Oh I'll get you started" Stephanie said in a helpful voice. "Favourite place on earth?"

"Bondi Beach with Jessica" Finn said with a dreamy expression on his face,

"Who's Jessica" Rory asked, fumbling with her cell to turn on the recorder. There was no way she was going to remember this in the morning.

"My surfboard."

"Named after the ultimate redhead" Tristan supplied. When Rory just looked confused, Finn caved in. "Jessica Rabbit."

"Oh… How do you feel about being on the Forbes list" Rory asked. She was apparently the only one taking this serious.

"It's wonderful, love. I plan on splurging a little bit after that and buy my own Island. I'll name it Finn-Land…. Get it?"

"Yeah, very original" Colin said. "Biggest fear?"

"Snakes. God how I hate snakes. Like the worst creatures on earth."

"Any tattoos" Paris asked. They all looked at her with a surprised look. Rory had almost forgotten she was even there.

"Three."

"Three? Colin and Logan looked at each other. "Last I checked you only had two."

"Yeah well, the last is not in a place you're going anytime soon, Colin."

Rory thought about it. She could remember him having 'CM' written on his left shoulder blade. She hadn't thought about it back then, but now it kinda made sense. She couldn't remember the other two. "What do they look like?"

"'CM' on the shoulder blade, 'In omnia paratus' on my wrist" he held up his wrist and Rory wondered why she hadn't even noticed that. "The last I got when I was completely pissed and I'm not telling you about that."

"What? Come on" Tristan pleaded. "Where is it?"

"Lets just say, the sun doesn't shine there very often and that's all I'm gonna say about that" Finn said.

"Buh, you whore" Stephanie said with a smile. "You like your work?"

"Some days" Finn said honestly. "Gets me around. I would have preferred my dad working still, but you can't have it all, I suppose."

"What happened. To your dad, I mean" Rory asked.

"He has cancer, love. In remission now, but it's taken its toll on him. He's not really the same person anymore. For starters, he isn't chasing me around with his shotgun anymore."

"Your dad used to chase you around with a shotgun" Rory asked with a mix of shock and disgust on her face.

"I'm kidding, love. Although he is like the biggest contributor to NRA outside America. He did once, accidentally of course, shoot my sister's new boyfriend."

"Yeah and it hurt like hell" Colin said in a sour tone.

"Oh you were fine, three days in the hospital is nothing" Finn laughed.

"Biggest regret" Stephanie asked and immediately wished she could take it back. A weird silence fell over the small group.

"Hooking up with Robert's girlfriend. He started crying and I had to spend three hours consoling him afterwards." It was a complete lie, but Rory understood his reluctance to tell the truth.

"You deserved that" Logan said.

"I did not! That was three hours I could have spent with…" Finn suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "I seem to have forgotten her name. Something with an 'N' I think. Our maybe 'U'?" He looked thoughtful. "But she had the biggest…" He hade a gesture with his hands and then suddenly remembered this was supposed to be an interview that would get published. "Feet… She had rather large feet." The whole group burst out in laughter at that.

"Greatest achievement" Tristan asked.

"Having a kid. That's pretty great, I think." His eyes met Rory's for a second.

"Wait, what?" Logan looked like he had been hit in the head with a chair. "You have a kid?" Tristan's face matched Logan's, but everyone else just looked mildly uncomfortable. "You knew about this" he asked Colin and Stephanie.

"Us? No… No no no" Stephanie said in the most unconvincing voice ever. Rory wanted to smack her. Stephanie was like the worst actor ever. She had once auditioned for a role in some Yale play and by God's mercy, she had gotten it. It had been horrible! Finn and Logan had been thrown out from the show because they laughed to loud and Colin had fallen asleep, while Rory thought of the best words to describe Stephanie's performance (safe words like "unbelievable", "unique", "special"). It had been the worst play Rory had ever attended, including some truly horrendous performances by Kirk.

"You are so lying" Logan said. "Why hasn't anyone told me?"

"Are you really surprised that Finn somehow managed to reproduce" Colin asked, trying to cover up the truth.

"Who is it, Jane? Someone else?" Tristan looked just as confused as Logan.

"Someone else" Finn said. "I figured, what with my stunning looks, manly charm and quick wit, it would be an offence to the world not to reproduce. You, on the other hand" he looked at Logan, "should do the world a favour and suit up. One Logan Huntzberger is more than enough! Now, I think the ten minutes are more than up and I am freezing my ass off. It's summer in Australia right now, you know…. You Americans got it all backwards. Let's go inside." He got up and dusted himself off, before offering a hand to Rory. "Coming, love?"

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

**Quote of the week:**

**"I'm more talented than all of you. I see that clearly now. It's Brittany. _(pause)_ Bitch"  
- Brittany S. Pierce, from Glee**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Sugar we're going down**

Rory was working on her excuses as she spotted Finn and Colin in the bar. Stephanie had started to hiccup, which was always a bad sign, and Logan had decided to go for a quick walk with her and maybe force some coffee into her. Logan didn't always act like an actual human being, but he loved Stephanie and he knew that it was a bad idea to let her act drunk around her parents. Not that they would have noticed, Rory thought, as they were engrossed in a drunken fight of their own. Rory shook her head. Logan's parents were pretty bad, Colin didn't talk to his unless someone had died or there was a wedding, but Stephanie's parents were probably the worst. They had separated when she was ten, but opted to not get a divorce (for reasons Rory couldn't even begin to imagine, seeing as they quite obviously hated each other), which had resulted in perhaps the most dysfunctional home Rory had ever heard of. Stephanie's father was some kind of producer and her mother was some kind of socialite, which was a pretty bad combination, apparently. They still lived together, although Stephanie's father was working his way through the fifth secretary (according to Colin) and her mother had dabbled in everything from tennis instructors to gynaecologists. Rory definitely felt bad for Stephanie.

"Fighting again" she asked, as she joined Finn and Colin.

"Yes, no surprise there. Apparently, bringing the poolboy is much more tacky than bringing your nineteen year old secretary Brandi" Colin said.

"The traditional spelling" Finn chirped.

"Good to know" Rory said, watching the elder "couple" with a sort of weird fascination (she figured it was the same kind that made people stop and ogle a traffic-accident). "Logan took Steph out to get her sobered up."

"Good, she doesn't need to deal with Jack Nicholson and Joan Collins over there" Colin said, disapproval evident in his voice. Much like everyone else, he didn't exactly care for them either. "You ready for maid of honour duty tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I've talked over everything with Steph, I need to be at the church at eleven to help her with everything…"

"That might entail slipping roofies in her mother's champagne" Finn chuckled. He was having a great time; anything that took his mind of the complicated state of affairs his lovelife was currently in, was great in his mind.

"Don't joke about that" Colin said with a straight face. "Stephanie actually called the zoo and asked if she could borrow a tranquilizer gun!"

Rory and Finn shared an uneasy look; Stephanie was not above bribing people. "They said no, right?"

"Yes… Yeah…" Colin suddenly looked a little worried as well. "They would have to… Right?"

Finn laughed and smacked Colin on the shoulder. "I hope you never cheat, mate."

"I love myself too much to cheat" Colin said, in true Colin-style. "I better go make sure she doesn't throw up un Huntzberger. The last time he demanded we bought him a new suit." Colin rolled his eyes, like Logan had demanded they bought him an island.

"How immature of him" Finn said in a flat tone as Colin left him alone with Rory. "So love, got what you needed?"

"Excuse me?"

"The interview?"

"Oh… No, not really, but I guess it's better than nothing, right?" She smiled at him, she had forgotten how nice he looked in a suit, although she had always appreciated his somewhat twisted fashion sense.

"That's what my dear old papa always says."

Rory suddenly felt a little awkward, usually Finn felt empty air with mindless chitchat, but now he was just staring at his drink. "So, Colin used to date your sister? Which one?" Rory felt like that was the safest topic right now.

"The nice one, Idina."

"And your dad shot him?"

"I swear, it was an accident. That, and someone forgetting to list his allergies at the hospital."

"So where is Jane tonight?" Rory had been trying to force herself to ask him that all evening.

"Not here, love, obviously." He downed the rest of his drink. "She dumped my cheating ass and booked a flight home. I'm guessing she's plotting her revenge as we speak."

"Oh I'm sorry" Rory managed to force out.

"You are still a terrible liar, Gilmore" he breathed into her ear. It sent shivers down her spine having him so close and she couldn't help herself, as she took a deep sniff. He smelled like cologne and alcohol and somehow that really worked for him. She tried to fight the blush that was heating her cheeks.

"I never meant to come between you" she said, feeling only a little insincere. Honestly, she hadn't meant to, but she wasn't quite as sorry about Finn now being single as she probably should be.

"Maybe not love, but you did." He sighed. "In the end, it would probably have happened anyways, right? I would've gotten bored, she would have slept with Logan, something like that. It's always something like that. Have you talked to your grandparents about this?"

"No, I've been sort of avoiding them. I think my grandmother went a little crazy when she saw the pictures…"

"And if I recall right, which unfortunately isn't always the case, your grandparents aren't my biggest fans" Finn said. Downing someone's thirty year old singe malt scotch like it was cheap vodka didn't always endear you to other people, was Finn's experience.

"Oh it's not that bad" Rory lied.

"Your grandfather once called me dopey" Finn said with a smile. "I remember that quite clearly. Doped up would have been more accurate, but still…"

"Finn?" Rory had thought about this for some time now. "Was it really that bad? The drinking and all that? Was it really that bad? I mean, you graduated Yale and you run a business now…"

"It was pretty bad for a while. My parents would probably have sent me to Betty Ford if they had an academic profile. It wasn't as bad when I attended Yale. I managed to show up to almost all my classes. But I'll admit, there are things I don't remember."

"Like meeting me…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but honestly Logan always had something new under that weird t-rex arm of his everyday, so I never really made the effort until you decided to stick around."

"So I should feel flattered" Rory asked with a smile.

"Oh definitely, love" he whispered in her ear.

Rory took a deep breath, trying to muster the courage for what she was about to propose. "I think…. I believe… No, I think that you should come home… With me, that is. Tonight. So we can talk."

"Just talk?"

"Yeah, because you're rebounding, so…" Rory trailed off, she could barely belief she had actually proposed something like this, even though it was fairly innocent.

"Ah, but I was rebounding from you when I met Jane, so technically, I've already had the rebound girl" Finn tried to logic with her.

"Ryder gave me some papers, legal papers about Daniel. We should figure out a way for you to spend time with him" Rory reasoned. Actually, legal papers were probably the last thing on her mind right now, what with him standing so close she could smell him, but for their future's sake, she had to be the adult here. Even if it seriously sucked. "So, yeah… I'll find you when it's time to leave and that'll be it. And now I'll go find Paris." Rory almost ran away from him.

* * *

She found Paris at their table, where she was having a vigorous debate with Stephanie's paternal grandfather. Or as vigorous as someone older than the written language was capable of having. Paris ignored Rory's presence for some time, until she couldn't ignore the look on her face anymore. "What?"

"I'm a walking disaster! I just asked Finn to come home with me tonight."

"Oh. Well there's nothing wrong with that, you're a grown woman with urges…"

"Oh god, please don't ever use that word ever again in my presence" Rory whispered, trying to erase the memory from her mind. "To talk!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Well yeah…. Because Jane broke their engagement, it would be stupid to start something now."

"Aha." Paris leaned back in her seat. "Stephanie's grandfather is very nice, don't you think?"

"Paris, you have got to stop that, seriously! It's creepy" Rory exclaimed, hoping Stephanie's grandparents were as deaf as they looked.

"What? There is nothing wrong with appreciating an older specimen" Paris whispered.

"Paris, there is so many things wrong with that sentence that I don't even know where to begin!"

"Honestly Rory, you're so stuck up. Finn's older too, you know."

"Finn wasn't around when they invented electricity" Rory said in an angry whisper.

Paris just ignored that and went back to her discussion, leaving Rory to look around the room. This felt like dangerous territory. Logan was glaring daggers at her and she had a feeling he would try to get her alone so they could talk again before the night was over. Stephanie, who had obviously found out that Colin had drugged her, was having a weird argument with him. It was obvious they were fighting about it, but both of them kept smiling, trying not to show they were fighting, but the smiles looked so scary it just drew attention to them. Robert, Tristan and Finn were dancing and Ryder was huddled in a corner, reading a book. Rory had never been to a society-wedding (as she had missed Honor's nuptials), but she was pretty sure this wasn't the usual ordeal. Of course, with the Life and Death Brigade people and Stephanie's extremely weird family, she should probably have known this would be a night to remember.

"Hey Ace, can I talk to you?"

"Really Logan, I don't see what there is to talk…"

"It was Finn, right?" He gave her a significant look. "That you cheated with. It was Finn, wasn't it?"

Rory looked at Paris, who was still busy talking to Stephanie's grandfather and she discreetly got up and followed Logan to an empty table near a deserted corner. "I'm sorry…"

"Finn is like one of my best friends" Logan said in a flat tone. "Did you sleep with him?"

"Yes."

"More than once?"

"No, it was just that one time, after graduation. I was hurting and we got really drunk…"

"Did you keep in touch, when he was in Australia? When he was with Jane?"

Rory closed her eyes and bit her lip. This was so not the right place to have a talk like this. "It wasn't like that, Logan. And I never did this to intentionally hurt you."

Logan seemed to think that over. "I was such a jerk to you, wasn't I?"

"Yeah you kinda were. But I'm still sorry I cheated on you. I've never done that before." Until now, of course, Rory added to herself. She still hadn't called Dean.

"You like Finn? I mean, judging by the pictures it pretty obvious, but… You like him?"

"I don't know, maybe? But all this stuff with Jane…"

"Yeah and the fact he has a kid. I still can't believe that. And he never ever told me. I'm thinking Colin probably knew, because, knowing Finn, he would have set up some kind of trust fund or something like that, for the kid, Colin would oversee that probably. Or maybe Ryer would, but I think Colin knew. But wow… Finn's a dad. Can you believe that?"

Rory made a somewhat strangled half-laugh. "Yeah…"

"But you know, Finn's changed. I'm pretty sure he's like the coolest dad ever, teaching the kid to surf and fish and wear really weird clothes and listen to strange music… You knew about it too?"

Rory took a deep breath. Should she tell him or was that Finn's lot? She wasn't sure and whoever should do the deed definitely shouldn't do it at a rehearsal dinner. Right? She wasn't sure what the proper etiquette in such a situation was. "Are you mad at me?"

"I think I'm a little hurt, but I know it's my own fault. Kinda thought you were the one, Ace. Now you'll always be the one that got away" he said with a smile.

Yeah and had your best friend's baby, Rory thought. But that was probably not the right way to break it to Logan either. "Oh I'm sure you've had plenty of fish after me" Rory said, still smiling like a nervous fool.

"Hey guys" Tristan said and plopped down next to Rory. "Your lover is hitting on me, make him stop."

"What?"

"Finn… It's annoying" Tristan whined.

"Why did you call him my lover" Rory said in a sharp tone.

"Oh please, Ace. You've just admitted that you slept with him, and there's pictures of you all over the net making out like there's no tomorrow."

"You slept with Finn?" Tristan had probably just talked a little loud due to excitement, but to Rory he might as well have gotten up on the stage, and announced it to the whole room.

"Shut up" she hushed him. "We are not having this conversation!"

"Wow so you really aren't Mary anymore, huh" Tristan said. "Hey, so Logan, did you know Finn's got a kid?"

"No I was just talking to Ace about it, it's completely crazy. He never even mentioned something like that" Logan said.

"Oh wow, look at the time. Way past my bedtime. Guess I'll see you two tomorrow, bye" Rory said and made a hasty retreat from the table. She thought about finding Finn, but after about a milliseconds' consideration she nixed that idea. Leaving together was definitely the fastest way to get people to talk even more about them.

"Hey Paris, I'm leaving" Rory told Paris. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah sure, is everything ok?"

Rory was surprised Paris even asked. It was obvious she didn't mean it. "Yeah sure. I'm just tired."

Paris just gave her a sceptical look at that statement. "Sure. See you tomorrow."

Rory was out of the door before anyone could make objections. She knew it was totally bad manners to leave without saying goodbye, but she didn't feel like facing anyone right now. She sent Finn a text, asking him to meet her at home in an hour. That way it wouldn't look weird, she reasoned with herself. Finn, however, didn't answer and she was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling that he wasn't gonna show up.

When she got home she immediately discarded her clothes and jumped into the shower. It felt like the only quiet time she had gotten all week and she almost felt giddy. After the shower she put on the 'Hello Kitty' nightset her mother had given her as a gag-gift and started to get ready for bed. The wedding was taking place late afternoon, luckily, and Rory had all morning to herself before she had to present for maid-of-honour-duty. That left plenty of time for her to get coffee.

Rory was completely engrossed in her own thoughts, which is why the knock on her door made her jump. She wasn't even sure who would come knocking this time of night.

"Hello Kitty" Finn drunkenly greeted her.

"Finn! I didn't think you were coming?"

"No? Love, your faith in me is disappointing" he grinned. "Logan wouldn't let me leave, he kept pestering me about you and me and Daniel and blah blah blah." Finn made a hand gesture to illustrate how much Logan had been blabbering.

"You're drunk." It wasn't a question.

"Not that much" Finn defended himself.

"You weren't supposed to be drunk" Rory said with a sigh. She placed him on the couch and found a blanket for him. "We'll talk in the morning, I guess. You can sleep here tonight. Just don't throw up on the floor." It was hard for her to keep the disappointment out of voice. She wasn't sure exactly what she was hoping to achieve tonight, but a drunk Finn passing out on her couch definitely wasn't it. And thinking about him in the shower and smelling him at the rehearsal dinner, having him so close. It made her cranky….

She woke up because of the noises. Someone was definitely fumbling around in her kitchen and for a second she hated herself for not taking the baseball bat Luke had tried to push onto her, when she first moved in. Then she remembered that it was most likely just Finn. Drunken Finn. She sighed and got up, before he trashed her entire kitchen.

"Did I wake you" he asked in a solemn tone and Rory definitely needed to take a moment. Sometime during the night, he had slipped out of his jacket and dress shirt and was now only wearing pants. She didn't mind.

"No, it's ok. How are you feeling?"

"Tad tired, nothing to worry about. I was just making some coffee. You want?"

This was perhaps the first time Rory had ever considered saying no to coffee. Ever! The sight of him, standing there, in her kitchen, wearing only pants… It definitely wasn't coffee she was in the mood for. "Oh… Yeah, sure, why not."

Finn poured her a cup. "Sorry about earlier. I'm sober now, promise. If you want to talk?"

Rory considered that, as she sipped her coffee. It was strong, just how she liked it. "No, not right now. How was the couch?"

"Very comfy, thanks" he said with a smile. "How's the bed?"

"Cold" she said, putting the cup down.

"Is that so" he smirked at her.

She nodded. "And lonely." Rory swallowed, this was so unlike her, but she just couldn't help it.

"You know, the couch isn't really that great after all."

"No?"

"No… Maybe we should share the bed? Get you warmed up?"

Rory nodded again, stepping closer to him. "Yeah…"

He gently touched her t-shirt. "You know, the trick to staying warm is less is more…"

She smiled at that and forced herself to meet his eyes. This was definitely out of character for her, but then again, this whole week had been out of character. In a rather bold move, for her, she pulled the t-shirt over her head and he leaned down to kiss her. It felt new and familiar at the same time. They worked their way to the bedroom, strewing clothes along the way. They collapsed on the bed together, revelling in each other.

* * *

Jess Mariano had been in the city for almost two years now and somehow he had never managed to run into his old girlfriend. He figured that, even though they were both writers now, they didn't exactly travel in the same circles. That made it all the more shocking to see the woman he still dreamt about sometimes, standing only a few feet away from him, ordering a coffee. He smiled; some things certainly didn't change.

She looked good, he thought. Her hair wasn't as long as when he had first met her, but in a more curly fashion now, with bangs. It suited her and he wondered why he never did contact her after he moved back to New York. He was just about to go over and say hi, when a tall guy joined Rory, fishing a couple bills out of a back pocket and paying the coffee. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair and Jess had to admit, it kinda hurt, seeing that. He caught himself hoping that the guy was an ugly moron, but of course he wasn't. Rory would never be with a guy that was a complete moron. Well, aside from Dean… And maybe that Logan guy. Jess suddenly felt hopeful, until the guy turned around. He had dark, slightly curly hair and Jess guessed he would fit the description 'tall, dark and handsome'. Rory turned around as well and Jess realized there was no escaping this one, unless Rory decided to ignore him.

"Oh my god, Jess! Hi" she said and smiled at him.

"Rory, hey" he said, trying to squash the butterflies in his stomach at the sight of her. He had been such an idiot back then.

"What are you doing here?"

"Live here, actually. Moved back a couple of years ago. You?" He already knew, but he didn't want to sound stalkerish in front of her new guy.

"I live here, been living here for like five years. I write for the Times" she said with a smile. "Oh, this is Finn" she said and gave the guy a big smile. "Finn, this is my ex-boyfriend Jess Mariano."

The guy offered his hand. "Finn Morgan" he said with an accent.

"Jess" Jess just said, as he reluctantly shook the hand. "So, married?" He felt he might as well get it out of the way.

"Not exactly" Rory said and Jess noticed she started to look a little uncomfortable. Maybe they weren't actually together. The guy could be gay, Jess told himself. "Finn and I are old friends from Yale, actually."

"We should meet up for coffee one day" Jess said. "Since we're both in the same city."

"Oh… Yeah, that would be nice" Rory looked even more uncomfortable now.

The guy seemed to notice too. "Love, why don't I go get you some more coffee" he offered and Jess decided he really hated that accent. And he especially hated the way Rory smiled at the guy. And what the hell kind of a name was Finn anyway. That was something you named your dog. Or that oversized teenager on the musical show.

Rory gave Jess another nervous smile. "How are you?""

Fine. Still a struggling writer, but I'm good, I like it."

"That's good" Rory said, looking in the direction the guy went.

"You two together?"

"It's complicated. Finn's… Finn and I…" Rory struggled with the words. "We have a child together."

Jess couldn't have been more surprised if Rory had told him she was growing a tail. "You have a kid?"

She nodded. "Daniel, he's almost five."

"Wow…. You had him pretty young."

"Yeah, but it's been good."

Jess looked in the weird guy's direction. He was ordering coffee now. "He's been good to you?"

Rory didn't really feel like explaining the whole uncomfortable and awkward history between her and Finn and she felt weird in Jess' company. It was pretty obvious he thought Finn was a moron. "Yeah he has. He's been busy, his dad is sick and he has a company to run, but… He's a good guy."

Jess just nodded. He hadn't expected Rory to give him some kind of sob story about how she had been pining away for him ever since they last saw each other, but it would have been nice anyway. "You doing anything today?"

Rory looked at her clock. It was only around nine in the morning, she still had plenty of time to get to the church and try to keep Stephanie's crazy antics in check. She and Finn had only ventured out because Rory had run out of coffee and the apartment smelled like sex (according to Finn). "Some of our friends are getting married today. We just went to get some coffee and breakfast, then we have to be at the church" Rory said, almost relieved when Finn joined them and put and arm around her.

"You're the writer ex, right" Finn asked, genuinely interested.

"Yeah" Jess said, knowing that was kinda cool in Rory's book. And this guy didn't look like he could form two coherent sentences on paper. "What do you do?"

"I manage my father's company. We own a chain of hotels around the world, and things like that. Certainly not as exciting as being a writer" Finn said with a grin. He was so on to the this Jess guy, it was obvious he was trying to impress Rory and maybe he did, but after last night, Finn didn't have any doubt about her. "We should get you to the church, love. Steph's probably trying to drown her mother as we chitchat." He kissed her hair for extra effect.

"Yeah, sorry Jess, but Finn's right, we have to go. But it was nice seeing you, though" she said with a small smile and left with the guy, holding his hand. Jess noted she made no attempt to schedule a day for them to catch up.

* * *

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* * *

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A/N: The mystery tattoo in the mysterious place will stay a mystery. Although I would love to hear your guesses. And if anyone has an embarrassing tattoo?

**I'm so sorry about the late update, but seriously, I've had the worst two weeks… You know when you have those days where you should just stay in bed, not get up, just stay inside and watch tv and not talk to anyone? Two weeks like that! It sucked so much and if it doesn't get better soon, I'm gonna rob a bank and jump on the next flight to a remote island. I hear Johnny Depp's got a private island, I might go there. I'm sure he wouldn't mind, once I explained everything to him.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Sophomore slump or comeback of the year**

Rory thought she arrived at the church in good time, but Stephanie thought otherwise, apparently. "Where the hell have you been" she almost shrieked at Rory, as she entered the room.

"What? I'm on time, I checked my watch like a million times, Steph" Rory defended.

"I've just spent three hours alone with my mother, without anything to drink at all! I'm going insane!"

"Oh… Well I'm sorry, I was out getting an early morning coffee with Finn…"

"Tell me everything and I'll forgive you" Stephanie said with a huge smile. "You know… You look different… Yeah, there is definitely something a little different about you."

"Well, I'm not wearing makeup" Rory offered, not sure she was liking the direction of the conversation.

"You got that freshly fucked face going on" Stephanie hooted. "Oh I knew it! You and Finn…" She made a rather rude gesture with her hands.

"Steph, we are not talking about this now!"

"Alright fine, be a buzz-kill. Did you talk?"

"Yeah we did. It was good."

"That's great! So what are you gonna do when Finn goes back home? Are you and Daniel coming with him?"

"Oh… Well, we didn't really…"

"Because Finn will probably want to spend some time with Daniel in Australia, show Daniel where he grew up, teach him how to surf, stuff like that. And with the holiday season coming up…"

Stephanie was blabbering a mile a minute and it was making Rory's head spin. Yeah, she and Finn had talked, but apparently they hadn't talked about anything important like they should have done. Finn had talked a little about his troublesome past and what he did when he got back home after graduating Yale. Rory had mostly talked about Daniel, shown him some pictures. They had gotten to know each other again, but they hadn't actually talked about themselves as parents to a child or how Finn would figure out his new role in life. "We haven't talked about that."

Stephanie sat down and gave Rory a serious look. "I know it's not my place, Rory, but you need to figure this out. And… I sided with once, so I think I owe Finn this: he called off his engagement to give this a chance and he lost out on seeing Daniel grow up. I think you need to be a little flexible this time around." She held up her hand, as Rory was about to protest. "I'm not saying quit your job and move down under or something like that, but maybe you could take some time off and help Daniel and Finn get to know each other? And trust me, Australia is amazing, you'll love it! Lots of hot surfer dudes with funny accents."

"You know you just described Finn, right?"

"Well, trust me, you'll love him being all surfer dude too. Just promise me you'll give this a chance and not run screaming the other way when things get a little complicated. Because they will!"

"When did you get so wise" Rory asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. She needed a good dose of reality and Stephanie had willingly given it to her, but that didn't mean it was easy to hear.

"Marriage will do that to you. That, and make you go all bitter and angry. At least, that's what happened to my parents."

"Is it still bad" Rory asked.

"Pretty bad, yeah… They're not speaking to each other right now and we've had to change the seating arrangements three times already. It's a nightmare, they make Colin's parents look good!"

"That bad huh? Steph I'm sorry, if there is anything I can do…"

"Just make this thing with Finn work out, ok? And keep my mother at bay while I empty a bottle of vodka."

"Steph, I'm not letting you stumble down the aisle… And when are the other bridesmaids getting here?"

"They'll be here shortly. And um… I should probably tell you that one of them, Whitney, is a former… acquaintance of Finn's."

"This isn't gonna be Logan's sister's wedding all over again, is it? Where pretty much everyone except the bride has slept with my boyfriend?"

"Oh my god, are you calling him your boyfriend? That's so cute" Stephanie cooed. "And well, technically I've slept with Finn as well. But no, it'll just be you, me and Whitney."

"Great" Rory mumbled. She had forgotten that Finn and Stephanie had slept together the first year of college and honestly, she preferred it that way. It wasn't that she was mad at them, she couldn't really seeing as it happened way before she met them, but it felt a little weird and she hoped they weren't gonna share "notes" on the experience.

"Look, I know it's a little weird, but… It's in the past, I just mentioned the thing with Whitney because she used to be like obsessed with Finn, so she might say something. Now you won't be surprised if she does."

"Gee thanks…" Rory sighed. "Let's get you in the dress."

* * *

Two hours, five attempted escapes by Stephanie, at least a dozen insults from one Whitney Whitetrash and several drinks later, Stephanie was in her dress and ready to go.

"He'll be there, right?"

"Who?" Rory looked around, wondering who Stephanie was referring to.

"Colin! He'll be there, right?"

"Be where?"

"At the altar!"

"Of course he will" Rory reassured Stephanie. When she didn't look reassured, Rory offered to call Finn and make sure the groom was indeed where he was supposed to be.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are not supposed to be calling me now, are you" Finn asked, as he answered his phone.

"Steph is freaking out. She actually tried to squeeze herself out of the bathroom window. She just want to be sure Colin is standing at the altar when she arrives at the church."

"So far we've only had one serious attempt to escape. Tristan and me tackled him before he got to the door."

"Good. So he'll be there?"

"He will be at the altar, looking a little less dapper than his devilishly handsome best man." Rory could almost picture Finn smiling into the phone as he said it. "I had fun this morning."

"Me too… We should um… Talk, later, I think. About some things."

"Sounds ominous, love."

Before she could answer, there was a scuffle on Finn's end and muffled voice yelled out and then he hung up. She stared at the phone a few moments, before remembering this really wasn't about her right now, it was about getting Stephanie down that aisle before she passed out or knocked out a bridesmaid trying to escape.

The wedding came and went without any major accidents. One of the bridesmaid slapped Logan on the way out of the church and Rory noticed that Stephanie had actually strapped a flask to her right thigh an was now guzzling down booze. Rory sighed, but at least they both made it down the aisle and said their "I do's" before hitting the liquor. And as Tristan so joyfully yelled when everyone had exited the church: "It's party time!"

The hotel where they party was being held was beautifully decorated and somehow, the waiters even managed to keep all the fighting parents apart. Rory hoped that whoever was paying for the wedding party would give the waiters a hefty bonus, they were certainly kept busy.

"Hello Rory."

Rory almost jumped at the sound of her grandmother. She had completely forgotten that her grandparents were invited to the wedding. "Hey grandma. How are you?"

"Oh just fine, thank you for asking." Her tone worried Rory, who just smiled a little. "Especially since you couldn't be bothered to answer your phone, even though I called you at least a dozen times to ask you about those horrid pictures on the internet of you and some man."

Rory swallowed. "Oh yeah… I um… I've just been busy with the wedding, you know. I'm sorry grandma, I meant to call you back, but…"

"But you didn't think it was important enough? Or that we needed to know what was going on in your life? After all, we only helped put you through Yale, we took you in when you had that fight with your mother, we helped you after you got yourself pregnant."

"Grandma please, I'm sorry you feel left out and I promise I will explain myself, but this is hardly the place" Rory said in a hushed tone. She took another deep breath. "His name is Finn and he's an old friend. I'll explain everything later, I promise."

"Fine…" Emily gave Rory a somewhat scary smile and turned on her heel to find Richard.

"That was a bit intense, wasn't it?"

"Ryder, you shouldn't sneak up on people" Rory said, hand over her heart.

"I'll wear my squeaky shoes next time" Ryder said with a dazzling smile. Rory imagined that if she hadn't been so intimidating, she would have been absolutely gorgeous. "So, the old folks giving you a hard time, eh?"

"Something like that. They've bailed me out a few times and now my grandmother feels entitled to know every little thing going on in my life."

"Well, they probably mean well. All grandparents do." Rory just nodded. "Have you looked over the legal papers I gave you?"

"No, I'm sorry, I've been busy."

"Doing my brother, yes I heard. Listen, I like you, but I love my brother, so if I have to twist your arm, I will."

Rory had no doubt she meant it. "You don't. I'll look them over and work things out with Finn." Rory fumbled a little with her hands. "What happened to Jane?"

"She went home" was Ryder's cryptic answer.

* * *

Finn had had a busy day. The day had started off great; spending time with Rory was nice and he was almost giddy about the prospect of finally getting some time with his son (he'd have to get used to using that word as well). He had expected Colin to be a little difficult before the wedding, but he had not expected Colin to almost knock out Logan and having a complete hissy fit in the bathroom. Honestly, Colin should have been born a woman, Finn thought with a smile. His thought were interrupted when someone cleared their throat in front of him.

"Finley, I presume?"

"Yes ma'am" he said, not immediately recognizing the woman.

"I'm Emily Gilmore, the grandmother of the girl you so very publicly had a tryst with."

"Oh… Right…" Finn suddenly felt a little uncomfortable, he could easily remember Emily Gilmore now. "And it's just Finn, please. Only my mother calls me Finley and only when she's angry with me" Finn said and tried to give the older woman a charming smile.

"Yes, well, I'm sure she's had plenty of opportunity for that" Emily said in a cold tone.

"Yes well…"

"I wanted to ask you what your intentions were, regarding my granddaughter." Before Finn could even begin to think about an answer, a tall man joined them. Finn guessed that would Richard Gilmore, Rory's grandfather.

"Finley, right" he asked.

"No Richard, just Finn. He obviously feels very comfortable around us" Emily said in a false tone.

"He's certainly emptied enough bottles of my fine scotch to feel comfortable" Richard lamented. "What are your intentions towards Rory?"

"I uh…" Finn stammered.

"You know she used to date Logan Huntzberger? She did, you know, for a long time" Emily said.

"And she has a young son. Rory is very responsible, she won't let just anyone into his life" Richard added.

"You know, you look just like one of those surfer-types you see on TV everyday. Are you one of those" Emily asked.

"Well, ma'am" Finn started, but was once again cut off.

"What exactly do you do? Because Rory does not spend time with people on welfare" Richard told him in a stern tone.

"And where on earth are you from, you look weird" Emily said.

"I am from Australia, ma'am" Finn finally managed to get in. "I uh… I went to Yale with Rory and uh…"

"You know, stuttering is such an unattractive characteristic" Emily said.

"I don't usually stutter" Finn muttered, frantically looking around for someone to help him get out of the situation, breathing a sigh of relief when he spotted Rory almost sprinting their way. She almost tackled Finn to the ground, before giving her grandparents a rather flustered smile. "Hey granddad, how are."

"I am just fine, Rory. I was just asking this young man who he was."

"He's Finn, an old friend from Yale" Rory said, still smiling nervously.

"That hardly explains why you were kissing him outside some seedy club" Emily said in a hushed tone, like it was some big secret. Rory imagined pretty much everyone in the room had at least heard of the pictures, if they hadn't actually seen them with their own eyes.

"Well um…" Rory tried to give Finn a look of reassurance, but he looked like he was about to face the firing squad. "Finn here is…" She gave him another look, but he was busy staring at his shoes. "He's um… Well, he's Australian" Rory offered rather lamely.

"And he stutters" Emily said, almost willing Rory or Finn to deny it.

"He does?" Rory shook her head. "Finn, um, Steph probably needs a little intervention right about now, go help her." Finn almost ran away from the little group and Rory felt more than a little embarrassed about everything.

"What a strange person" Richard said, looking at Finn's escape.

"He's probably just a little nervous. You can be a little intimidating."

"Well, I hardly think it's go much to ask to at least know who the man that our granddaughter is dating, is" Emily reasoned. Rory was just about to object, when Emily continued: "And since you didn't want to tell me anything…"

"Grandma, it's not like that." Rory sighed yet again, it was becoming pretty apparent that there was no getting out if this. "His name is Finn Morgan and…"

"Morgen? As in the Morgan-group" Richard asked, suddenly looking a lot more interested.

Rory, on the other hand, only looked confused. "I don't know. His father is sick, so he's running the company for now. And you know his grandparents, I think…"

"Really?" Now Emily looked interested as well. "Claire and John Morgan?"

"Yeah, so you know him, he just looks a little different now, without the sunglasses and nail polish and hangovers. Perhaps we can talk more about this another time? I don't want to steal the attention from Steph and Colin."

"Of course Rory" Emily said and finally managed to give her an actual smile.

Rory smiled back and went looking for Finn. She found him in the bar with Robert and Logan. "Hey, sorry about that,"

"Your grandmother hates me."

"Yes, but don't feel special, she hates a lot of people" Rory reasoned.

Finn snorted. "She made my third shrink seem like a nice person."

"You know, Emily always loved me" Logan snickered.

"Yeah she liked your money" Rory said. "Anyways, apparently you're a part of the Morgan group, whatever that is."

"Yes, it's this thing my family has" Finn said, not really feeling like explaining it.

"Well, they both really liked that and they know your grandparents, so I think you're in."

"Oh wow lucky me" Finn said, looking completely miserable.

"Finn I am so sorry, they're just overzealous" Rory said.

"Well, look at it this way" Logan laughed, "when you go back home, there'll be a whole ocean between you."

"Not enough" Finn muttered, downing the rest of his beer.

"This is why I don't date" Robert said.

"Robert, you don't date because you're huge tool" Finn snarked. "And we are not dating."

Rory had a feeling she looked like she had just been hit with a bucket of water, at least judging by the look Logan was giving her. "You sure about that Finn? Because Rory's face says differently" he pointed out.

"Maybe this is a conversation for later" Finn suggested.

"No, let it all out. So what are we, if we're not dating. Friends with benefits? Acquaintances? People who happen to just have a kid together?"

"What?" Both Logan and Robert looked shocked.

"Oh…"

Finn rose from his position and put an arm around Rory. "That, love, is what we call a major fuck up."

"What the hell, you two have a kid or what?" Logan sounded furious and seemed to be more than ready for a confrontation, while Robert had wisely taken off.

"Mate, if you want the whole bloody city to know, you have to yell a little louder" Finn said. "But yeah, we do."

"I can't believe this. Ace, what the hell? How could you do that?"

"Do what? It's not something I chose to do, it just happened. And it's not like you have any saying in what I do or don't do" Rory said.

"Some friend you are" Logan muttered to Finn and took off with his drink.

"Well, I think that went much better than suspected" Finn said with a smile. Rory, however, didn't look nearly as happy. "Oh, relax love, he'll calm down, trust me. Logan is all about the drama. He should have a Vegas show or something."

"We're not together?"

"Excuse me?"

"You just said that we aren't dating. So what are we" Rory asked.

"I believe you actually have to ask someone out on a date in order to actually be dating. And I haven't asked you anywhere. So I guess we're nothing, right now, except for the parenting thing, I take that quite serious. Love, I would love for us to be more, but unfortunately, inside this irresistible body lies a cold and realistic heart. I'll return to Australia at some point and I don't think you'll come with me. So as much as I would love for us to be more, I doubt neither of us is ready to make the necessary sacrifices it requires."

"So, what? That's it? You had fun this morning and that's it?" Rory was fighting the tears.

"Love, you're not listening…"

"No, I think I heard you just fine. Tell your sister I'll sign her papers and send them to her or something" Rory said in a small tone and walked away. It would be wrong to have a complete meltdown at her best friends wedding, to even bother said best friend with something like this, so instead Rory set out to find Paris.

"What happened?"

"I think Finn just broke up with me" Rory said, still trying not to cry.

"Are you alright?" Paris led her through the crowd and into the lobby of the hotel. "What happened?"

"We were just talking and I… I don't know, but he doesn't think we should be together and oh god…" Rory collapsed on a sofa and furiously wiped away the tears. "God, this is so stupid, _I'm_ so stupid, all this is stupid. How could I even think for a second this thing between us would work out."

"Well obviously Finn is a huge idiot who needs to have his ass kicked" Paris said, handing Rory a Kleenex and three different pills. "You want me to kick his ass? Because I will, Rory, I swear I will. I will Krav Maga his ass all the way back to the outback!"

"No just… I feel so stupid right now. I really thought we had something…"

"What the hell is going on" a high-pitched voice interrupted them. Paris and Rory turned to look at Stephanie. "Why are you…. Oh my god, what did Finn do?"

"Steph, please go back to your party, we can talk about this later" Rory said, feeling even worse because Stephanie was standing in the lobby, dealing with her, instead of celebrating her first marriage, as Stephanie so fondly refered to it.

"I most certainly will not when my maid of honour is sitting out here, crying. What did he do?"

"He broke it off. Before it even began!"

"What? Why?"

Rory wiped her eyes with the Kleenex. "He said that there's no point in trying, when neither of us will give up our life and move. Which I suppose in some way is right, but… I guess I just thought…"

"I am going to kick his surfbumb ass well into next year" Stephanie raged.

"I think I'd prefer to just forget all about it" Rory sniffled.

"But what about Daniel" Paris asked. "Is he at least going to take a little responsibility?"

"Yeah, I think that's what the papers Ryder gave me is about. I guess he'll stay here for a while and spend time with Daniel and then Daniel will have to travel back and forth."

"Rory this is just Finn being Finn. He's obviously trying to protect himself or something equally stupid. Someone just needs to knock some sense into him" Stephanie reasoned.

"Steph would it be horrible if I just went home? I kinda spilled everything in front of Logan and Robert and I'm not sure I can go in there again."

Stephanie looked disappointed, but nodded. "Sure, I'll call you later, okay? And chin up, at the bottom line, Finn is just a stupid boy who clearly doesn't understand what he's missing out on!"

Rory nodded. "Yeah I guess I just thought we could make this work."

"I'll call a cab" Paris offered. She wasn't really that great dealing with emotional stuff anyway.

Stephanie gently caressed Rory's hair. "I'm so sorry, Ror. I really thought Finn was serious about this. Colin too. We talked about how great it would be for you all to a family."

"It's okay" Rory said, leaning on Stephanie shoulder. "I'm sorry I ruined your party."

"Silly girl, the party doesn't matter. It's what comes after the party that's important. I feel horrible for pushing you on Finn…"

"Don't. It's not your fault, I really wanted it to work to, but I guess he didn't."

"I'll call you later, and we'll talk some more."

"Steph no, it's your wedding night. Go, enjoy it, you deserve it. I'm so happy for you and Colin."

"I love you, Gilmore" Stephanie gushed, which tipped off Rory that she was probably a little bit drunk, but she still appreciated it.

"I love you too, McCrea."

"That sounds really weird" Stephanie said.

"Well, you better get used to it."

"What are you gonna do now?"

"Sign the damn papers and work out a plan for Daniel and Finn. Work a lot!"

"Well, there's always Robert, if you're lonely.""I'll keep that in mind" Rory said with a little smile.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah… A month… Sorry about that. I wish I had a really great excuse, but I just got caught up in other things. I recently "broke up" with a someone I thought was a really good friend and that took some time to get over, I think, and I didn't really feel like writing. But anyways, I'm sorry and I hope no one is too mad at me. Oh and thanks for all the amazing reviews. Despite me being a crap writer and even worse with a deadline, you guys still review and have nothing but kind words. It is much appreciated, trust me!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Ok, last chapter folks and unfortunately it's quite short. I now it's been like forever, but I really just haven't been feeling like writing and I think I'm gonna take a break after this one. Again, I know it's a little short, but I think I just needed to finish this, otherwise it would be another two years before I would be able to finalize it, so I hope you'll forgive me. For all of you who have stuck by me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and you have always made me smile with your more than lovely reviews. So thank you for that, words can't express how much joy you guys have brought me!**

**I forgot to reply to any reviews last time, so to make up for that:**

**Doctor Smith: Awesome name, and sorry, but I won't be revealing anything else about the mysterious tattoo. You'll just have to use your imagination.**

**Fritzicles: Thanks, that very kind of you**

**Gogen: Thanks, I love that you love it and sorry about lazy updates**

**Roseinthegarden: I love the couple too, there needs to be more stories about them. And sorry about the slow updates**

**Summer2391: Thanks, it makes my day whenever someone says (writes) something like that**

**Master and Commander: I'm really worried about you! I know it's been forever between my updates and you didn't review the last time. I hope you're not dead!**

**Oriensbabydoll: Yes, mystery tattoo stays a mystery. I hope this satisfies you and unbreaks your heart.**

**Curley-Q: You are always so sweet thank you!**

**Imoran319: Yeah, Finn's kinda an idiot, isn't he? But aren't all guys sometimes idiots? And I think Finn is an adorable idiot**

**MaryBBlove23: Aaaaw thank you, you're always super nice!**

**Jlhf: And I love that you love it, hope this satisfies you**

**CloisDestiny: Yeah, Robert was sort of disgusting, wasn't he? I mean, who has a lifeplan like that?**

**Kiera 14: Yeah, sorry about the updates, but my life has been full of less than fun exams and other stuff, so I haven't really had the time. And thanks for your awesome review, that pretty much just made my day!**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Hum hallelujah**

It had been three days since Rory had walked out early on Stephanie and Colin's wedding. She still felt bad about it, but both Stephanie and Colin had reassured her that they understood her reasoning. They had also both offered to "handle" the Finn-situation, as Stephanie had referred to it. Rory had declined their offers and instead opted to let Paris handle her communication with Finn (she felt he only deserved so much after his rather cold rejection). They had set up a few meetings with Finn and Daniel, where Rory was still present but kept her distance in order to let the two get to know each other. Other than that, she had steered clear of Finn, still reeling from a month full of emotional ups and downs. Lorelai had been by as much as she could, Luke had even stopped by once with food, but the emotional state Rory was in made him a little uncomfortable as he wasn't very good with crying women.

Rory had never thought she would feel like this, but she was actually happy that Paris had decided to crash in her apartment for a weeks time. Paris, being Paris, had taken complete charge of Rory's life in all regards except Daniel. She handled communication with both Finn and Ryder and made sure Rory actually got up and went to work and ate. It was kinda pathetic, Rory knew, and she acted normal around Daniel, but went he was tucked in at night, she just felt empty.

"I handed in the interview today" Rory said, as she and Paris tried to fill Rory's emptiness with scotch, three nights after the wedding.

"You actually managed to get something out of that?"

"I googled Finn at work yesterday and managed to fill it out with meaningless facts like his birthday and stuff like that. It's not my best work, though…"

"I'm sure you did fine, Gilmore" Paris said and downed her drink. "I really don't like scotch!"

"I know! Why do the guys drink it all the time?"

"Maybe they don't have any taste buds left" Paris suggested. "How are things with Daniel and He Who Must Not Be Named?"

"It's good, which is good… Daniel called him daddy yesterday, so that's good. Finn attended a soccer match, that's pretty good too. He's good with Daniel, from what I can tell. They've spent some time alone, which I suppose is good…"

"So to summarize, it's good?"

"I think I need more scotch!"

Paris handed her the bottle. "You do know this is completely pathetic, right?""Oh yeah…"

"And that you probably have to deal with Finn at some point?"

"As long as some point is a long long time away and there will be scotch involved" Rory said, pouring herself another glass. "I'm gonna regret this in the morning, right?""Probably! Have you heard from Monkey Girl?"

"Yeah, they're in France right now. Stephanie has talked to Finn a little and Colin has offered to represent me, if Ryder suddenly decides to do something.

"Paris frowned. "You think she would?"

Rory shrugged. "I don't know, I hope not."

"Have you…"

Rory held up her hand. "I don't know!"

"Okay fine, whatever. Sue me because I want to be prepared." There was a moment of silence between them. "Can I see the article?"

"Oh, yeah sure. Why?"

"If he's gonna be Daniel's father, I should approve."

Rory looked somewhat sceptical at that, but managed to get up on shaky legs and find a copy of the article. "Just so you know, he's not "gonna be", he _is _Daniel's father, approval or not."

Paris just muttered something and started to read the article. "How someone who've spent so much time being a complete alcoholic surf bum can become a Forbes millionaire is beyond me. But nice picture."

Rory shrugged. Okay, so perhaps she had spent an indecent amount of time googling him, just so she could use the worst picture (he resembled a drunk Slash in it), but he had hurt her feelings and she didn't feel like making him more appealing by using a picture of him posing with a surfboard wearing nothing but board shorts.

"You didn't mention yourself or Daniel."

Another shrug. "I thought it would be weird, like, I was writing about myself."

Paris nodded. "Good for you, let him announce it, if he want to." She downed her drink. "Who needs men anyway? I just checked my mail and still no reply from Dr. Jennings."

"Who's Dr. Jennings?"

"My professor, the one I told you about."

"Oh Paris. Look, I know I'm the last to give you dating advice, but maybe you should, I don't know, date someone a little younger?"

"Why? Why should I have to settle?"

"Guys your own age is settling?"

Paris shrugged. "They don't get me, and I want to be with someone who get's me." Rory didn't have the heart to tell Paris that would probably never happen.

* * *

"Hey Rory. There's a package waiting for you on your desk" Caroline greeted Rory, as she stepped out of the elevator at work the next morning.

"Oh… What is it?"

Caroline smiled. "Go see for yourself."

"Okay fine" Rory mumbled, walking towards her desk. And boy was she in for a surprise.

"You know, love, it's rude to ignore people" Finn said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Embarrassing you, obviously. Seeing as you won't talk to me in person or take my calls, I decided to corner you. And love…" He took out a copy of today's newspaper, containing the interview with him, "obviously you have some things you need to say."

"I think you said them all at the wedding" Rory said, crossing her arms. She was aware they were probably causing a scene, but seeing as Finn didn't care, why should she?

"Is that so? Well in that case, I would like to add a few things."

"Finn, I really don't think that's a good idea. And this is not the place either…" On second note, Finn didn't have to work with any of these people, so maybe she should try to move this along?

"Had you actually bother to do your homework on me, you would know that I seldom let place determine my actions. Hence the very public scene I'm about to make. Love, your grandmother is perhaps the most scary person I have ever met! And I must remind you, I spent nine months in a womb with Ryder. So maybe I freaked out a little, because she wanted to know if my intensions were honourable, which I must say, they seldom are! And she might have been very keen on the whole "marry" thing, which I am not at all ready to do, because I jumped into that too fast with Jane and I think I'm still reeling a little bit from that as well. So I was stupid and scared and maybe a little bit tired of everything at that moment…"

"Could you just get to the point! Rory interrupted, feeling more and more embarrassed by this.

"Yes, of course. Rory, perhaps the love of my life and most certainly the mother of my born child, I am sorry that I hurt you, especially since it is the last thing I wanted to do. In fact, I am so sorry I insist that you let me sweep you off your feet to a trip down under. Figuratively speaking, of course, not metaphorically, although perhaps we should explore…"

Rory held up her hand. "Finn! I have to work here!"

"Right… But I insist. And Australia is quite lovely this time of year. Well, anywhere is quite lovely when you're with me, I suppose, but Australia is especially nice."

"I'm not going to Australia with you" Rory said.

"I had a feeling you might say that, which I why I prepared an alternative. There's a coffeeshop around the corner…"

Rory closed her eyes for a second a took a deep breath. She was doing just fine (lie) pretending that Finn didn't exist, she was coping (lie) and she was getting better (lie, lie, lie!). This just made it that much more difficult for her. "I don't love" she said in a small tone.

"I wasn't asking you to. I'm asking you out for coffee. And I don't mind playing dirty, so let me remind you that you neglected to inform me about Daniel for five years, so I think you owe me that."

"Are you gonna keep on doing that? That owe-you thing?"

"If it works" Finn said with a smirk.

"It doesn't."

"Fair enough. But I am sorry I hurt you, and you should know that I hurt myself as well when I pushed you away. It was stupid and I regret it. But now you're being stupid, not me!"

"I am not the stupid one here" Rory pointed out.

"Well love, you kinda are, because you're turning me down right now and that, honestly, is just plain stupid! Because I am quite the catch, Rory Gilmore! I can see you laughing right now, but I am; I am an excellent kisser, I work out and take care of myself, I am quite wealthy, I love puppies and babies and stupid stuff like that, I have a somewhat great relationship with my parents, I don't drink, well I hardly don't drink anymore, I have a great house in Sydney and a mansion outside Sydney, I know how to surf…"

"You think surfing is a redeemable quality" Rory asked, trying not to smile.

"Of course it is!"

"Well ok, but you also have an insane sister with some seriously bad bedside manor."

"Well yes, there is that, but I also have a very sweet sister, and I have an accent."

"Again with the accent?"

"I swear to you, it works!"

"If you say so." It was becoming harder and harder for Rory not to smile now.

"And I love Daniel, I really really do. And I'm great with him, I love spending time with him and I know he wants to spend more time with me."

"Yeah with the accent and all" Rory mumbled.

"So, Rory Gilmore, possibly the love of my life.. Will you please go out with me?"

"Do it" someone cheered from behind Rory and other's chimed in.

"This isn't fair" Rory said, still smiling. "It's peer pressure."

"I know, love…"

"Rory, come on. Hot guy with an accent, why are you even thinking about it" Caroline egged her on.

"Yeah Rory, come on" Finn agreed.

"Well, how can I say no to someone who knows how to surf and has one nice sister?"

"Exactly my thought. So we're going to Australia?"

"No, we're going to get coffee" Rory replied.

"Oh well, just as long as you know coffee isn't as fun as Australia" Finn pouted, as they got in the elevator together to cheers from Rory's co-workers.

* * *

"So, Mr. Morgan, that was quite a performance" Rory said, as she was sitting across from Finn, drinking coffee.

"I needed to get your attention."

"Well you certainly got it."

"Love, I truly am sorry for what I said" Finn apologized again. "But your grandmother had me all freaked out and afraid, I think I panicked."

"I get that" Rory said. "But it hurt, you acting all… like that."

"I know." Finn cleared his throat. "But I also need you to know that I meant some of what I said. I'm not gonna leave Australia, I have responsibilities, just like I know you won't leave the states."

"Oh…" Rory nervously fiddled with her cup. She thought back to the talk she had had with Stephanie before the wedding. "I suppose I could take some time off. Daniel should know a little about where he's from. Well, partly from."

Finn's smile could have lit up the entire city on New Year's eve. "Really?"

"Really. I understand that I need to be a little flexible, giving everything that has happened. And I always had this secret fantasy of learning how to surf."

"Is that so, love?" He gave her a smirk. "You'd have to put up with a lot of Ryder."

Rory shrugged. "I suppose I could live with that, as long as you promise not to give me some silly nick-name like Koala or matey or something."

"Nah love, we don't do that, I'll call you Sheila if we're in a tight spot."

Rory smiled. "So Australia?"

"It'll be for the best anyway, we'll be far far away from your grandmother and Logan, who has left several rude voicemails on my phone. You know, he really has quite the potty mouth!"

They both got up from the table and Finn put an arm around her and Rory had to admit that it felt natural having him that close. A trip to Australia was definitely out of her comfort zone, but she was beginning to understand that being with Finn meant constantly being out of one's comfort zone and she might as well get used to it.

"Just one thing." She gave Finn a serious look. "Ryder can't sit next to me on the plane!"


End file.
